title: Comparison of various current electronic apex locators to determine the working length using the clearing technique.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Correct working length determination is an important step for successful endodontic therapy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to compare in vitro the accuracy of three electronic apex locators (EALs) (DentaPort ZX [Morita Co., Tokyo, Japan], SIROEndo Pocket [Sirona Dental Systems, NY, USA], and Rootor [Meta Biomed, Cheongwon-gun, Korea]) in detecting the major foramen using the clearing technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five human extracted single-rooted teeth with mature apices were used for the study and divided into three groups of 15 teeth each. All teeth were embedded in an alginate model, and the electronic measurements were taken following the manufacturers' orientations. Then, the teeth were cleared and photographed under a stereomicroscope with a digital camera. The distance from the file tip to the major foramen was measured using image analysis software program. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, and Chi-square tests at a significance level of 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean distances from the file tip to the major foramen were 0.164 ± 0.292, -0.162 ± 0.234, 0.341 ± 0.166 mm in the DentaPort ZX, SIROEndo Pocket, and Rootor groups, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant difference between SIROEndo Pocket and Rootor (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found between DentaPort ZX and other EALs (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DentaPort ZX located the major foramen with 100% accuracy within the range of ± 0.5 mm. However, the accuracy of the SIROEndo Pocket and Rootor in locating the major foramen within ± 0.5 mm was 73.3% and 86.7%, respectively. All EALs showed an acceptable determination of the major foramen within the range of ± 0.5 mm.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Altunbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kustarci
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Er
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kocak
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D009811:Odontometry / Q000379:methods*; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000379:methods*; D019227:Tooth Apex / Q000033:anatomy & histology