A comparative evaluation of two working length determination methods

Area of Science:

• Endodontics
• Dental Radiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Accurate working length determination is crucial for successful endodontic treatment.
• Radiographic and electronic apex locator (EAL) methods are commonly used for this assessment.
• The influence of pulpal and periapical diagnoses on the agreement between these methods requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between radiographic and EAL working length measurements.
• To determine if pulpal status affects the concordance of these two assessment methods.

Main Methods:

• Working length measurements were obtained using both radiographic and EAL techniques.
• Data included pulpal and periapical diagnoses from a patient registry.
• The Bland-Altman method assessed agreement, with a Kruskal-Wallis test for statistical significance.

Main Results:

• A general agreement was observed between EAL measurements and radiographic assessments.
• EAL measurements correlated well with a 1.5 mm file placed coronally to the radiographic apex.
• Pulpal diagnosis did not significantly alter the agreement between the methods.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the reliability of EAL in determining working length across various pulpal diagnoses.
• The suggested 1.5 mm coronal setting for EAL may be applicable to all endodontic cases.
• Further research can validate this finding across diverse clinical scenarios.