Opinions and attitudes of endodontists and general dental practitioners in the UK towards the intracanal fracture of endodontic instruments: part 1.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the attitudes and opinions of general dental practitioners (GDPs) and endodontists in the UK towards fracture of endodontic instruments. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between GDPs and endodontists regarding their experience of fracture of endodontic instruments.


METHODS
A pilot questionnaire was carried out on 20 postgraduate dental students to ensure that the questions were easily understood. This was followed by a further pilot survey on a group of GDPs and endodontists (50) to facilitate sample size calculation. The sample size comprised 330 systematically selected GDPs, and all endodontic specialists working in the UK (170). The questionnaire comprised both close-ended and partially close-ended questions in four categories: demographics; pattern of practice and experience of instrument fracture; management of fractured instruments; and unsuccessful management of fractured instruments. Nonrespondents were sent another two mailings (first and second reminders). After collecting the responses, data were analysed using chi-square and Linear-by-Linear Association tests at the 0.05 level of significance.


RESULTS
The overall response rate was 75% (82.82% for endodontists and 70.92% for GDPs). Overall, 88.8% of respondents had experienced fractured instruments with a significantly higher proportion of endodontists (94.8%) compared with that of GDPs (85.1%).


CONCLUSIONS
Both endodontists and GDPs were aware of most factors contributing to endodontic instrument fracture. With experience and knowledge, fracture of endodontic instruments was associated with the number of root canal treatments performed.
School of Dentistry, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. ahmad.madarati@hotmail.co.uk
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Madarati
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Watts
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Qualtrough
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003762:Dental Instruments / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004708:Endodontics / Q000193:education; D004868:Equipment Failure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom