Objectives: The aim of this cross-sectional retrospective study was to evaluate radiographically the technical quality of root canal treatment performed by undergraduate students using reciprocating NiTi instrumentation and single-cone obturation.
Methods: Endodontic treatment on 1102 teeth performed by undergraduate students from the School of Dentistry of the University of Santa Cecilia (Brazil) was evaluated. All root canal preparations were performed using Reciproc files and were irrigated with 1% NaOCl. The root canal was filled with gutta-percha, along with AH Plus sealer, using the single-cone obturation technique. The technical quality of the root canal treatment was evaluated based on immediate postoperative radiographs. Distance between the end of the filling and the radiographic apex, the filling density, and the taper of the root filling was assessed. Inter-examiner agreement statistic (Kappa) and Chi-square statistic test were used for statistical evaluation of the results. Differences were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05.
Results: Anterior teeth, maxillary premolars, and molars presented better results than mandibular premolars and molars (p < 0.05). Mandibular premolars presented a high incidence of a short length of obturation (33.34%) and mandibular molars presented a high incidence of overfilling (6.55%). The majority of the treatment analyzed (62.46%) fulfilled all the criteria showing acceptable working length, taper, and density of obturation. Instrument fractures occurred in eighteen root canals (0.81%).
Conclusions: The use of NiTi reciprocating instruments with the single-cone obturation technique provided an acceptable quality of endodontic treatment in the majority of the cases performed by undergraduate students.
Keywords: endodontics; reciprocating movement; retrospective study; single-cone obturation technique; undergraduate students.
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