title: Influence of the quality of endodontic treatment and coronal restorations on the prevalence of apical periodontitis in a Turkish Cypriot population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of periapical lesions in root canal-treated teeth in a Turkish Cypriote population and to investigate the influence of the quality of root canal fillings and coronal restorations on the prevalence of periapical lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample for this cross-sectional study consisted of 1,006 adult patients seeking routine dental care. Patients who had received dental care in the last 2 years were excluded. Radiographs of 2,200 root canal-treated teeth were evaluated. The teeth were grouped according to the radiographic quality of the root canal filling and the coronal restoration. Periapical status was assessed using periapical index (PAI) scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 2,200 root canal-treated teeth, 1,364 (62%) had apical periodontitis as compared with 1,364 (5.5%) of the total sample. Root-filled teeth classified as adequately treated had apical periodontitis in 223 (26.6%) cases compared with 1,192 (87.7%) in teeth classified as inadequately root filled. PAI 1 scores of adequate root canal treatment were significantly higher than in inadequate root canal treatment, regardless of the quality or presence of coronal restorations (p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings showed a high prevalence of periapical pathology with or without endodontic treatment and poor technical standard of both root fillings and coronal restorations of root-treated teeth. Hence, we suggest the need for better education for dental health providers so that they can perform better root canal treatments and coronal restorations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus. atakankalender@gmail.com
authors.forename: Atakan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalender
authors.forename: Kaan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orhan
authors.forename: Umut
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Basmaci
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Er
authors.forename: Aslıhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alankus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010485:Periapical Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology