Abstract
BackgroundTo establish the extent of using nickel titanium rotary instruments (NiTi-RIs), to identify reasons for using / not using NiTi-RIs, to explore usage modalities and to identify factors and measures that can increase implementation of NiTi-RIs in general dental practice.MethodsTwo pilot questionnaires were conducted on academic staff members at College of Dentistry, Taibah University, general dentists (GDs) and endodontists to finalise the questionnaire. A sample size was calculated considering the expected and minimum accepted response rates (60 and 48%, respectively) and a 99.9% Confidence Level. The online-questionnaire was sent to 600 GDs and all endodontists (175) working in Saudi Arabia. A reminder was emailed after 10 weeks to encourage non-respondents to complete the questionnaire. Responses, were collected and converted into numerical data which were analysed using the Chi-square test (p = 0.05).ResultsSignificantly most respondents (71.9%) used NiTi-RIs (p < 0.001); with more endodontists (96.9%) than GDs (60%). Most users (62.5%) had been using NiTi-RIs for More than 3 years (p < 0001). The trend of using NiTi-RIs increased as participants’ experience and the number of root-canal treatments performed per week increased (p = 0.021). While most respondents (45.3%) used NiTi-RIs because of faster root-canal preparation, the majority of non-users (85.3%) didn’t do so because of high cost. The highest proportion (43.3%) reported better undergraduate education as the most important factor that can significantly increase NiTi-RIs usage. The majority (91.8%) prepared glide-path before using NiTi-RIs; especially with stainless steel hand-files (63.3%).ConclusionsNiTi-RIs are relatively well adopted in Saudi dental practice. However, better education, especially during undergraduate training and lower cost can increase their usage. Overall, clinicians showed good awareness of NiTi-RIs usage aspects which reflected on usage modalities.
Highlights
To establish the extent of using nickel titanium rotary instruments (NiTi-RIs), to identify reasons for using / not using NiTi-RIs, to explore usage modalities and to identify factors and measures that can increase implementation of NiTi-RIs in general dental practice
Response rate & participants’ classification Of the 395 who responded to the questionnaire, 264 (66.8%) were general dentists (GDs), 97 (24.6%) were endodontists, 12 (3%) were students or residents in endodontic postgraduate programmes, and 22 (5.6%) were others
Since the use of NiTi-RIs is included in the curriculum of endodontic postgraduate programmes in Saudi Arabia, enrolled postgraduate students or residents were classified as endodontists
Summary
To establish the extent of using nickel titanium rotary instruments (NiTi-RIs), to identify reasons for using / not using NiTi-RIs, to explore usage modalities and to identify factors and measures that can increase implementation of NiTi-RIs in general dental practice. Many studies have reported better performance of NiTi-RIs, in cleaning and shaping of the root-canal system, compared to SSIs [6, 8,9,10]. None of previous studies investigated some important aspects such as: preparing glide-path before using NiTi-RIs and dentists’ beliefs about measures that contribute into better implementation of NiTi-RIs in general dental practice. Such information can be obtained mainly by questionnaires studies [13, 17], especially if they are well planned and conducted; so that results are representative and can be generalised [17, 18]
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