An Investigation of Current Endodontic Practice in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives. The aim of this study was to gather information about the quality and quantity of root canal treatments carried out by general dental practitioners in Turkey. Methods. Questionnaires were given to 1400 dentists who attended the 16th National Congress organized by the Turkish Dental Association. The participants were asked to answer 34 multiple-choice questions. The questions were subdivided into 3 main topics; general information; general approach to endodontic treatment; and cleaning, shaping, and obturation of root canals. The statistical analysis was carried out by an χ 2-test to compare the means at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results. The response rate for this study was 43%. There was a wide variation in the number of root canal treatments completed per month. Nearly 92% of practitioners stated that they never used rubber dam. The most commonly used working length determination technique was radiographic evaluation (P < 0.05). Sodium hypochlorite was the irrigant of choice with varying concentrations and AH Plus was the sealer of choice (P < 0.05). Resin composite was the most frequently used material for final restorations. Conclusions. Endodontic procedures in general practice in Turkey have differences from widely acknowledged quality guidelines. Despite the introduction of new instruments and techniques, most of the general practitioners chose conventional methods.

Trends in Contemporary Endodontic Practice of Pakistan: A National Survey

“…2 For accurate determination of working length a combination of electronic apex locator (EAL) and radiographs is important but about 39.9% of the respondents relied exclusively on radiographs in our study while 16.1% relied on a combination of radiographs and apex locator. 18 These findings are similar to those reported by Kaptan et al 5 and others 6,7,9,14,15 but differs from those reported by Savani et al, 1 Kohli et al2 and Raoof et al8. Lee et al showed even in USA about half of the endodontists relied on EAL for length determination, considering which the results from Pakistani population are encouraging in terms of adoption of new technology.…”

“…A sample from academic institutes was selected because it was believed that an academic environment encourages practitioners to adopt more evidence based practice. The 79% response rate is encouraging for this study as other such surveys performed in different countries had a much smaller response rate, 24% for Savani et al, 35% for Lee et al, 42% for Kohli et al, 43% for Kaptan et al 1,2,5,7 However, surveys performed by Raoof et al in Iran and Gupta et al in India have demonstrated a relatively higher response rate of 84.88% and 88% respectively. 8,9 Establishing a proper diagnosis is the first step in delivering appropriate treatment to a patient, various aids have been recommended to help guide the endodontist in this task.…”

“…These values are still reasonable compared to those reported by Shrestha et al, Kaptan et al and Gupta et al but compared to the findings of Raoof et al, Kohli et al and Savani et al a much lower percentage of rubber dam usage was identified in our study. 1,2,5,8,9,14 In terms of the number of appointment needed to complete the root canal treatment 68.5% of the respondents performed endodontic treatment in multiple visits while 29.4% had no preference. This is in contrast with the findings of Savani et al but in agreement with Omari et al 1,6 Regarding the use of intracanal medicament, 67.2% of the respondents in our study preferred Calcium Hydroxide which is consistent with the findings of Lee 1,2,7,8,9,14,15 Although this represents a relatively low usage of something that is supported by evidence, still the reported percentage is much higher than the study conducted by Omari et al, possibly because of the antiquated nature of the study.…”

“…Questionnaire surveys at a national level have been performed in different countries across the world like USA, UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey, Jordan and India. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Surprisingly even in a developed country like USA a staggering 68% of the endodontic treatments are being performed by the general practitioners. 1 Similarly in Pakistan where there is a deficiency of dedicated endodontic training programs it would be expected that an overwhelming majority of the root canal treatments are being performed by general practitioners.…”

Survey of Materials, Methods Employed, and Attitudes Towards International Endodontic Treatment Protocol Standards by General Dental Practitioners in Lithuania. Does Age Matter?

“…A study conducted in Denmark noted that only 10% of general dental practitioners used rotary nickel-titanium instruments [21]. A further observation could be made that the younger generation used step back technique more often that the older, where the aforementioned technique uses mainly only K-files [8]. Comparable results were acquired in the present study whereas the professionals age, the step back technique fades out in usage and the usage of rotary system becomes more prominent.…”