Original Article

Year : 2021 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 1 | Page : 40 - 45

Knowledge and Practice of Endodontic Treatment Carried out by General Practitioners in Chennai: A Questionnaire Survey

K. Saravanan, Shakul Hameed

Department of Conservative and Endodontics, Best Dental College, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Introduction:

Root canal treatment (RCT) is taken into account as a necessary component within the dental services provided to the population in developed furthermore as developing countries. It is the responsibility of the academics and dental schools to prepare their students to adopt the guidelines and recommended standards in root canal debridement, shaping, and obturation. The aim of this questionnaire survey was to evaluate the knowledge and practice of endodontic treatment carried out by general practitioners in Chennai.

Materials and Methods:

A questionnaire was developed with 15 questions based on knowledge and practice of endodontic treatment and was sent to 50 general dental practitioners (n = 50). The collected data were entered into a personal computer and analyzed.

Results:

In the present study, all the participants, i.e. 100%, reported that they perform root canal procedures in posterior teeth. Isolation was mainly done using rubber dam in 32% of the dentists. The step‐back technique was the most popular root canal preparation technique (76%). Forty‐two percent of the dentists in Chennai tended to use hand instruments and 40% of them prefer K‐files for cleaning and shaping the root canals. Every dentist in Chennai takes radiographs in every step of RCT. Fifty‐eight percent of the dentists used normal saline for irrigation. Every dentist reported that they use gutta‐percha as an obturating material in which 52% of them used lateral condensation technique. Every dentist used zinc oxide eugenol as a sealer. The coronal access cavity was sealed by temporary restorative material immediately after the treatment, and the permanent sealing was done later on by themselves.

Conclusion:

Based on this survey, it was demonstrated that dentists performed procedures which often deviated from well-acknowledged endodontic quality guidelines. General practitioners did not seem to keep up with recently introduced techniques but use more conventional methods. Most of the conventional techniques used by dentists were reported to have increased success rate.

Keywords: Endodontic treatment, filling material, instruments, irrigants, isolation, obturation

How to cite this article: Shamlee E, Reddy S. Oral potentially malignant disorders among dental patients. Int J Soc Rehab 2021;6:40-5.