1Reader & Head, Department of Pediatrics and Preventive Dentistry, MNDAV Dental College and Hospital, Soaln, HP
2Reader, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Bhojia Dental College and Hospital, Soaln, HP
3Professor, Department of Periodontics and Implantology, Bhojia Dental College and Hospital, Baddi, HP
4Reader, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Himachal Institute of Dental Sciences, Paonta Sahib, HP
5Reader, Department of Pediatrics and Preventive Dentistry, Bhojia Dental College and Hospital, Baddi, HP
6BDS student, Department of Pediatrics and Preventive Dentistry, National Dental College and Hospital, Dera Bassi, Punjab
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Sandeep Kumar, Reader, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Bhojia Dental College and Hospital, Baddi, HP
Online published on 13 July, 2023.
Advancement in dentistry come up with more precision and practical, electronic methods of length determination termed as “Apex Locator” With additional advantages of no of X- ray exposure, reduced procedure time which aids in maintain patient's cooperation and effective treatment. Aim and objective is to cross compare above methods with actual root length (Ideal standard) for accuracy.
In vitro study was conducted on 40 deciduous maxillary and mandibular molars with total 120 root canals with age group between 4-10 years in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Himachal Dental Collage, Sundernagar. Endodontic access was achieved using a round diamond bur. ISO 10-25 no K-file (Mani, Inc., Tochigi, Japan) was passively inserted till the root length to verify canal patency. Samples were placed in an alginate bath with inner rear side empty enough to accommodate radiographic film and RVG sensor to take radiographs. Working length was determined by Radiographic method, The assigned calibrations were tabulated and mean of working length in all the three groups was calculated and subjected to one way ANOVA which shows no significant differences between different groups but it was observed that the root length measured by electronic method (apex locators) was closest to the ideal standards. This was followed by root length measured by radiovisiography, radiographs and lastly by tactile method. The Pearson's correlation was statistically significant for all the groups (p<0.05). The apex locator showed highest degree of correlation (0.979) with the actual root length followed by Radiovisiography, conventional radiography and lastly the tactile method.
We can conclude that incorporation of electronic method of working length determination can be of immense use in paediatric endodontic which are proved to be reliable and precise and increasing safety and comfort in treatment anyhow their use should be further evaluated and certainly warrants more clinical studies.
Radiography, Apex locator
