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A comparative evaluation of two working length determination methods
Author(s) -
Keratiotis Georgios,
Kournetas Nikolaos,
Agrafioti Anastasia,
Kontakiotis Evangelos G.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
australian endodontic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.703
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1747-4477
pISSN - 1329-1947
DOI - 10.1111/aej.12321
Subject(s) - medical diagnosis , coronal plane , dentistry , radiography , medicine , orthodontics , pulp (tooth)
The purpose of this study was to explore the level of agreement between the radiographic and the electronic apex locator ( EAL ) working length assessment methods, amongst teeth with different diagnoses. Working length measurements along with pulpal and periapical diagnoses data were collected from the Patient Registry Database of our Institution. The null hypothesis of this study was that pulp status does not affect the level of agreement between the two methods. The degree of agreement was assessed using the Bland–Altman method, followed by a Kruskal–Wallis test ( a = 5%) that would allow the null hypothesis to be accepted. The EAL measurements agree in general with those provided by a 1.5 mm file placed coronal to the radiographic apex amid teeth with different pulpal diagnoses. Within the limitations of this study, we suggest that this setting (i.e. the distance) may be applied to all cases of endodontically treated teeth, despite the differences in pulpal diagnosis.