Needle Probe- A Novel Instrument for Atraumatic Extraction of Broken Maxillary Root Apices

Abstract

Introduction: Atraumatic extraction is the need of the hour to best preserve both hard and soft tissues. A novel instrument was designed, needle probe, in an effort to achieve the same efficacy with respect to extraction of maxillary teeth broken root fragments. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of using needle probe in removing fractured maxillary tooth apical sections in terms of application, use and its handling. Materials and Methods: In the present clinical, cross-sectional study, Fifty patients requiring removal of fractured maxillary tooth root fragment as a complication of routine extraction were enrolled. The study was conducted between June 2020 and June 2021. Patients were assigned, irrespective of gender, age or tooth, to group A (n=25) where extraction of root pieces was done using endodontic H files and group B (n=25) in whom extraction was done using the novel needle probe. Data was tabulated accordingly and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) ver. 22 and categorical data between groups were analysed using student‘s t-test. with significance level set at 0.05. Results: The average time taken for successful removal of the root fragment in Group A was 3 minutes 3 seconds±23 seconds and 2 minutes 12 seconds±46 seconds in Group B. All inclusive, the needle probe proved to have excellent ease of operation, access and visibility in 24%, 24% and 36% cases as opposed to the conventional use of H files with minimal complications and tissue trauma. Conclusion: Failure to retrieve the broken root is mostly associated with ankylosed and hyper cementosis roots. The needle probe can be promising in its use for atraumatic root fragment extraction. The novel needle probe is easy to use, quick in application and hence results in better patient compliance.