ABSTRACT
Objectives: To evaluate radiographically the technical quality of root canal fillings performed by dental students at the School of Dentistry, University of the West Indies. Methods: The dental school's database of student clinical activity between the period 2000-2004 was investigated for patients who completed root canal treatment. For each root filled tooth, at least four periapical radiographs were examined: preoperative, working length determination, try in GP point and postoperative. The final sample consisted of 198 patients with 288 root filled teeth and 460 canals. The length, presence of voids, taper, curvature of canal and fractured instruments were recorded and scored. Chi-squared analysis was used to determine statistically significant differences between the technical quality of root fillings and tooth type. Results: Sixty-three percent, 27.6% and 72.2% of root filled canals had adequate length, density and taper respectively. Fractured instruments were found in only 7 of the root canals (1.5%).The acceptability for both length and taper was found in 31.5% of canals. A significantly greater proportion of root fillings of adequate length and taper were observed in straight canals compared to curved canals (P<0.05). However no significant difference was observed for the presence of voids in straight or curved canals. The percentage of root fillings with adequate length was significantly greater in maxillary teeth than in mandibular teeth (P <0.05) and in anterior teeth compared to posterior teeth (P< 0.001).The overall acceptability of root fillings having adequate length and taper, absence of voids and no fractured instruments was found in 10.9% of canals. The mandibular incisors had the greatest level of acceptability for all observed parameters (27.3%). Conclusion: The overall acceptability of root fillings performed by dental undergraduate students was only 10.9%. Changes in teaching methods may be required to improve the quality of root canal treatment among dental students.
