Evaluating the attitudes of general dental practitioners in Gaziantep about endodontics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the level of knowledge of dentists working in Gaziantep about the stages of root canal treatment. Questionnaires were reached to 118 general dental practitioners working in Gaziantep. Questionnaire was including questions such as age, gender, year of graduation, root canal medicament, root canal sealer, irrigation solution, use of rotary instrument and apex locator, number of sessions, indication of retreatment. Results were analyzed with chi-square test. A hundred of the dentists accepted to be included in the survey. The most frequently preferential inter-appointment medicament was calcium hydroxide with a ratio of 84 % (p < 0,05). Resin based sealers are the mostly used sealers (p < 0,05) while endomethazone and zinc oxide eugenol based sealers (ZOE) are used less frequently. Composite is preferred by 71 % of respondents for coronal restoration (p < 0,05) while amalgam is the second most used material with the ratio of 41 %. Single visit treatment is carried out especially by 15-20 and 0-5 years graduate to single-double rooted teeth. For working length determination, 64 % of respondents prefer radiographic method, 32 % of them use apex locators while 42 % rely upon tactile sensation. Among the respondents, 41% use only hand files for preparation while % 59 use rotary instruments. Sodium hypochlorite is the most used irrigant while chlorhexidine is used less. General dental practitioners in Gaziantep should obviate the information deficiencies about different steps of endodontics.

Evaluation of dentists’ approach to retreatment in Turkey: A survey study

“…In one study, it was reported that in the Gaziantep city of Turkey, dentists working in private clinics performed more retreatments than those working in the public sector (15). The possible reason for this may be not being able to perform retreatment under high level of patient inflow in public sector.…”

“…In another study, it was reported that 94% of endodontists in Brazil used electronic apex locator for working length detection (16). For Turkey, research has found that 42% of dentists relied on the method of determining working length with finger sensitivity (15) and 47.9% of dentists used radiography and electronic apex locators together in determining working length (16). The practitioners who participated in our study used the following methods for detecting working length: 18% radiography, 32% electronic apex locator, 7% hand sensitivity, and 43% radiography and electronic apex locator.…”

“…Studies have evaluated the preferences of dentists working in Turkey in endodontic treatment and the effect of demographic characteristics on these preferences. In 2012, Unal et al (13) and Kaptan et al (14) conducted cross-sectional studies across Turkey and in 2015, Demir et al (15) conducted a cross-sectional study in Gaziantep.…”