title: Prevalence of apical periodontitis and quality of root canal fillings in population of Zagreb, Croatia: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of apical periodontitis and assess the quality of endodontic fillings in the population of the city of Zagreb, Croatia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1462 orthopantomograms from new patients at 6 different dental practices was analyzed during 2006 and 2007. The presence of periapical lesions was determined by using the periapical index score (PAI). The quality of endodontic fillings was assessed according to the filling length and homogenicity. Data were analyzed using t test and ANOVA with Scheffe post-hoc test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 75.9% of participants with endodontically treated teeth and 8.5% of all teeth were endodontically treated. Only 34.2% of endodontically treated roots had adequate root canal filling length, while 36.2% of root canal fillings had homogenous appearance. From the total number of teeth with intracanal post, 17.5% had no visible root canal filling. Using PAI 3 as a threshold value for apical periodontitis, periapical lesions were detected in 8.5% of teeth. Adequate quality of root canal fillings was associated with a lower prevalence of periapical lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a large proportion of endodontically treated teeth with apical periodontitis and a correlation between the quality of endodontic filling and the prevalence of periapical lesions. This all suggests that it is necessary to improve the quality of endodontic treatment in order to reduce the incidence and prevalence of apical periodontitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Gunduliceva 5, Zagreb, Croatia. matijevic@sfzg.hr
authors.forename: Jurica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matijević
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cizmeković Dadić
authors.forename: Goranka
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prpic Mehicic
authors.forename: Ivica
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ani
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slaj
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jukić Krmek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010485:Periapical Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015995:Prevalence; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012389:Root Canal Obturation / Q000592:standards; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult