ABSTRACT
Objective: To gather information on the materials and methods employed in root canal
treatment by dentists in Turkey
Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 1,527 dentists who attended the Turkish
Dental Association Congress. Respondents were asked to choose one or more suitable
answers for the questions. Data was gathered for demographic and professional information
regarding stages, materials, and methods commonly used in endodontic therapy. The
collected data was analyzed using the statistical package SPSS. Descriptive statistics
were given as frequencies (n) and percent (%). Chi-square (χ2) test was used to investigate
the influence of gender and the years of professional activity for the materials and
techniques employed.
Results: The response rate was 49%. A total of 97% of respondents were working in
a general dental practice. Of respondents, 44% were using an agent containing arsenic
or aldehyde. Only 5.1% of the respondents preferred the rubber dam isolation method.
Sodium hypochlorite was the most popular choice (73%) as a root canal irrigation solution.
Calcium hydroxide was the most commonly used medicament (53%). Most of the practitioners
(77%) preferred radiographs for working-length determination. Root canal preparation
done solely with K-Files or in combination with other instruments was preferred by
73.1% of the respondents. Ni-Ti hand or rotary files were used by 79.7% of the practitioners.
Polymer based root canal sealers were the sealers most frequently chosen (48.4%).
The majority of the respondents (66.2%) preferred cold lateral condensation as an
obturation technique. Gender affected the preference of intracanal medicament, periapical
radiographs for working-length determination, root canal instrument, root canal sealers,
and root canal obturation technique (P<.05). Years of professional experience affected
the preference of devitalizing agents, irrigation solutions, intracanal medicament,
root canal instrument, root canal sealer, and root canal obturation technique (P<.05).
Conclusions: It is clear that a number of dentists, irrespective of the time elapsed
since their graduation, relied on techniques, and used products and materials that
are currently favoured by expert opinion. Unfortunately, it was noted that some practitioners
are still using arsenic- and aldehyde- containing devitalizing agents, and most did
not use rubber dam as an isolation method. (Eur J Dent 2012;6:376-384)
Key words
General dental practice - questionnaire - Turkey - root canal treatment
