Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of endodontic treatment and the quality of root canal fillings in Brazilian undergraduate dental students. The study was similar those conducted 10, 20, 30, and 40 years earlier. Methods: A total of 407 undergraduate dental students were evaluated by using questionnaires to identify endodontic treatments, with each treatment being radiographed for the analysis of the presence of a periapical radiolucency and the quality of the root canal filling. Results: Forty root canal fillings were found: 32 (80%) completely filled, seven (17.5%) incompletely filled, and one (2.5%) overfilled. Conclusion: This study showed a low prevalence of endodontic treatment in dentistry students, and the evaluated root canals that were filled were high quality, with few cases suggesting periapical lesions.
Highlights
Endodontic treatment is performed based on a series of factors and steps that when well conducted are aimed at reducing the chances of failure and accidents [1,2,3]
Failures could be identified by an increase in the thickness of the periodontal ligament; the absence of bone repair within the lesion, or an increase in the size of rarefaction; the absence of the formation of a new hard blade; the appearance of bone rarefaction in areas that previously did not exist; unfilled spaces that are visible in the canal, apically or laterally associated with periapical lesions; and active resorptions associated with other radiographic signs [2,3,4,5,6,7]
Studies investigating the prevalence of endodontic treatments, as well as their technical quality and the occurrence of apical periodontitis are important for increasing endodontic epidemiology [9,33]
Summary
Endodontic treatment is performed based on a series of factors and steps that when well conducted are aimed at reducing the chances of failure and accidents [1,2,3]. Failure can result from inadequate access, perforations, instrument fractures, overfilling, and incomplete fillings [1,2,3,4,5]. To evaluate the success or failure of endodontic treatment, clinical and radiographic methods were used in the past. A systematic review of cross-sectional studies showed that the prevalence of a periapical radiolucency was very high, broadly equivalent to one radiolucency per patient, and the prevalence of teeth with root canal treatment was very high, too, broadly equivalent to two treatments per patient [8]. Comparing the results of epidemiological studies (table 1), we observed the high occurrence of inadequate endodontic treatment in several populations, as well as the radiographic suggestion of a periapical reaction
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