Technical quality of root canal therapies performed by novice dental students in preclinical practice.
BACKGROUND
For improving the quality of endodontic performance of practitioners in clinical practice, their basic, preclinical performance and knowledge must be taken into consideration. This study aimed to radiographically evaluate the technical quality of preclinical molar root canal treatments (RCTs) performed by undergraduate dental students at a dental school in Iran. Further, the effect of using Gates-Glidden (GG) drills on the final quality of RCTs was evaluated.


METHODS
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 315 roots of 105 endodontically treated teeth in preclinical practice were evaluated radiographically. The analyzed quality parameters included length, taper and density of fillings, which were scored as S2 (adequate standard), the S1 (slight deviation), or S0 (considerable deviation). For all the parameters, acceptable, moderate and poor fillings received total scores of 6, 3-5 and 0-2, respectively. There were two groups of students: One group had used only K-files, and the other had used K-files along with GG drills. The quality of RCTs between these groups was evaluated using the aforementioned scoring protocol. The results were analyzed using Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Fisher's exact tests (α = 0.05).


RESULTS
Under-fillings (P = 0.001) and under-shapings (P = 0.007) occurred mostly in mandibular root fillings. A lower density was found in maxillary fillings (P < 0.001). No relationship was observed between the technique used (irrespective of GG drills usage) and length (P = 0.499) and taper of fillings (P = 0.238). The roots instrumented with GG drills had a higher filling density (P = 0.004). The quality mean score of RCTs was improved when GG drills were used (P = 0.008).


CONCLUSIONS
The technical quality of preclinical molar RCTs performed by undergraduate dental students was considered acceptable in 35.6% of the cases. When GG drills were used along with K-files, the technical quality of RCTs was enhanced.
Dental Students Research Center, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Mahmood Reza
MR
Kalantar Motamedi
Dental Students Research Center, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Seyed Hamid Reza
SH
Davoodi
Dental Students Research Center, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Alireza
A
Saeidi
Torabinejad Dental Research Center and Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Behnaz
B
Barekatain
Dental Materials Research Center and Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Hamid
H
Noormohammadi
Dental Materials Research Center and Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Hamid
H
Razavian
Dental; dental student; education; endodontics; root canal therapy