Prevalence and Types of Iatrogenic Errors in Root Canal Treatments Performed by Dental Students: A Retrospective...

Root canal therapy is an essential part of dental care that has a high success rate, as reported under controlled conditions. Nevertheless, procedural errors can be present when conducted by undergraduate students and have a detrimental impact on treatment outcomes. To better endodontic education and clinical performance, the frequency and types of iatrogenic errors should be evaluated. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and the nature of iatrogenic errors during root canal treatments that are administered by undergraduate dental students in their fifth year.

One hundred and twenty-five endodontically treated teeth were chosen randomly. The fifth-year dental students performed all the treatments using a standardized endodontic protocol. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative radiographs were assessed to find out iatrogenic errors, such as ledge, perforation, canal obstruction, separation of instruments, overfilling, underfilling, and voids. This descriptive study reports the frequency of errors without inferential statistical analysis.

Radiographic evaluation indicated that at least one of the iatrogenic errors during treatment was observed in 32.8% of the treated cases. The most common mistake was obturation voids, which were identified 11.2% of the total cases and were found mostly in the second premolars.

Root canal treatments that were carried out by undergraduates had a relatively high number of iatrogenic errors, with obturation errors being the most frequent. These results lead to the necessity of more effective clinical training, better supervision, and integration of more sophisticated endodontic procedures to minimize errors in the course of the procedure and enhance the quality of the treatment.