The adoption of new endodontic technology by Indian dental practitioners: a questionnaire survey

To ascertain the adoption of new endodontic technology in general dental practice in India in 2011.

A postal questionnaire survey comprising 26 questions was sent to 700 general dental practitioners. The questions covered professional activity, root canal preparation and instrumentation, choice of irrigants and intracanal medicaments, choice of obturation techniques and other aspects of endodontics. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Chi-square (χ(2)) test at 0.05 level of significance.

The overall response rate was 88%. The results showed that rubber dams were used by 27% of dental practitioners in India. The most widely used irrigant was sodium hypochlorite, which was used by 33% of the respondents. Thirty nine percent of the practitioners were still incorporating only hand files during the cleaning and shaping phase of treatment. The technique of choice was both step back and crown down (35%). Calcium hydroxide was found to be the most frequently used (62%) intracanal medicament. Lateral condensation with guttapercha (61%) was the most common method used for obturation. Majority used zinc oxide eugenol as a sealer (55%). The post obturation restoration was done mostly by composite material (46%). Most of the respondents placed crowns after root canal treatment. Digital radiography was reported as being used by 17% of the respondents. There was no difference between males and females with respect to the incorporation of new technologies in dentistry. They had been incorporated significantly more by respondents who held postgraduate qualifications and had professional activities of <5 years.

The results indicated that new endodontic technology and materials are slowly being incorporated in clinical practice of endodontics in India. This survey shows the importance of continuing dental education for practitioners to update their knowledge.