Comparison of Accuracy of Apex Locator with Tactile and Conventional Radiographic Method for Working Length Determination in Primary and Permanent Teeth.

BACKGROUND

Correct working length determination is one of the main factors leading to success in root canal treatment. The digital tactile sense technique and conventional radiography (CR) are common techniques for working length determination but both techniques have some limitations. A newer method of working length estimation involves use of the apex locator. The current study was carried out to compare the accuracy of the apex locator with a tactile and conventional radiographic method for working length determination in primary and permanent teeth.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted on 60 children selected randomly from the outpatient department of the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry. The patients were divided into two groups: primary and permanent. An informed consent was obtained. After radiographic confirmation of the presence of more than two-third root length access, opening was done in all the teeth. The pulp was extirpated completely from the chamber and canals. Canals were dried completely using paper points. Working length was determined by all the three methods, i.e., digital tactile method, apex locator, and conventional intraoral periapical radiographic method in both primary and permanent teeth.

RESULTS

The data were coded and entered into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The analysis was done using the SPSS version 20 (IBM SPSS Statistics Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) Windows software program. The variables were assessed for normality using the one-way ANOVA test. Within the limitations of this study, working lengths obtained by the tactile method, the apex locator, and the radiographic method were comparable. There was no statistically significant difference among the three methods except in mesiolingual and distobuccal canals of permanent teeth.

CONCLUSION

The apex locator can serve as a useful guide to determine the working length in permanent as well as primary teeth.

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

Rathore K, Tandon S, Sharma M, Comparison of Accuracy of Apex Locator with Tactile and Conventional Radiographic Method for Working Length Determination in Primary and Permanent Teeth. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(3):235-239.