Knowledge, practice and attitude of undergraduate students in clinical years regarding advanced endodontic...

This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and clinical practices of undergraduate dental students in their clinical years about the use of advanced endodontic instruments. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was executed over six months among all 220 undergraduate dental students from three dental colleges in Saudi Arabia: King Saud University, Imam Abdurrahman University, and King Faisal University. Information was gathered using a pre-validated, self-administered questionnaire that included sections on demographics, knowledge, clinical practices, and attitudes. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 23. The chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were applied to explore the influence of gender and the clinical years on the knowledge, attitude and practices. A p-value of less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. Among 220 respondents, 156 (70.9%) were male, with most in the sixth year (30.9%) and from King Saud University (40.0%). Knowledge of rotary instruments was moderate; 137 (62.3%) correctly identified the effect of increased pitch, with significant improvement across academic years (p = 0.005). Awareness of reduced fracture risk also increased significantly (p = 0.002). Knowledge of electronic apex locators was high, with 193 (87.7%) correctly identifying the need to remove metallic restorations, showing significant improvement with academic year (p < 0.001). Attitudes were predominantly positive, as 158 (71.8%) strongly agreed that combined use of rotary files and EALs reduces chair time, with positivity increasing significantly across academic years (p = 0.031). This study concluded that knowledge, clinical practice, and positive attitudes toward rotary endodontic files and electronic apex locators improved significantly with increasing academic year. Senior students and interns showed greater understanding, higher clinical exposure, and more favorable perceptions of the effectiveness and convenience of these technologies.