Influence of pulp condition on the accuracy of an electronic foramen locator in posterior teeth: an in vivo study

Daniel Renner, Renata Grazziotin-Soares, Giulio Gavini, Fernando Branco Barletta
2012 Brazilian Oral Research  
Influence of pulp condition on the accuracy of an electronic foramen locator in posterior teeth: an in vivo study Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess, in vivo, the accuracy of the NovApex  electronic foramen locator in determining working length (WL) in vital and necrotic posterior teeth. The NovApex  was used in 144 canals: 35 teeth with vital pulps (68 canals) and 42 teeth with necrotic pulps (76 canals). WL was measured with the NovApex  locator and confirmed using the
more » ... ic method. Differences between electronic and radiographic measurements ranging between 0.0 and 0.4 millimeters were classified as acceptable; differences equal to or greater than 0.5 millimeter were considered unacceptable. Pearson's chi-square test was used to assess the influence of pulp condition on the accuracy of NovApex  (α = 0.05). Regardless of pulp condition, differences between electronic and radiographic WL measurements were acceptable in 73.61% of the canals. No statistically significant differences in accuracy were observed when comparing vital and necrotic canals (p > 0.05). There were 38 unacceptable measurements. In none of these cases was the file tip located beyond the radiographic apex; in 32, it was located short of the NovApex  measurement. Pulp condition had no significant effect on the accuracy of NovApex  .
doi:10.1590/s1806-83242012000200004 pmid:22473344 fatcat:eeyp7mmp25bhrb2tg462nog5mm