• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.200-205
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this in vivo study was to assess the accuracy of 2 third-generation electronic apex locators (EALs), Propex II (Dentsply Maillefer) and Root ZX II (J. Morita), and radiographic technique for locating the major foramen (MF). Materials and Methods: Thirty-two premolars with single canals that required extraction were included. Following anesthesia, access, and initial canal preparation with size 10 and 15 K-flex files and SX and S1 rotary ProTaper files, the canals were irrigated with 2.5% sodium hypochlorite. The length of the root canal was verified 3 times for each tooth using the 2 apex locators and once using the radiographic technique. Teeth were extracted and the actual WL was determined using size 15 K-files under a ${\times}25$ magnification. The Biostat 4.0 program (AnalystSoft Inc.) was used for comparing the direct measurements with those obtained using radiographic technique and the apex locators. Pearson's correlation analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for statistical analyses. Results: The measurements obtained using the visual method exhibited the strongest correlation with Root ZX II (r = 0.94), followed by Propex II (r = 0.90) and Ingle's technique (r = 0.81; p < 0.001). Descriptive statistics using ANOVA (Tukey's post hoc test) revealed significant differences between the radiographic measurements and both EALs measurements (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Both EALs presented similar accuracy that was higher than that of the radiographic measurements obtained with Ingle's technique. Our results suggest that the use of these EALs for MF location is more accurate than the use of radiographic measurements.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.25-31
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• 1981

One of the most important factors for successful endodontic therapy is an accurate length determination of physiological root apex. Some methods suggested for the measurement of root canal length, include digital-tactile sense and roentgenographic technique with measuring wire, scale and grid. But these methods do not derermine an accurate working length to physiological root apex. Recently electronic measuring devices are used to locate the physiological root apex in root canal length determination and these devices are accepted as an effective apparatus. The 89 patients (116 teeth, 144 canals) among the out-patients of Yonsei University Dental Infirmary, who had had an endodontic treatment in the Department of Operative Dentistry, were measured by the Root-Canal Meter$^{(R)}$ as an electronic device, and radiographs to determine the distribution and location of physiological root apex, then the following results were made: (1) Range of ${\pm}$1mm from the radiographic root apex were present in 88.88% (128 canals) of the subjects. (2) Physiological root apex and radiographic root apex were coincided in 31.94% (46 canals) of the subjects. (3) The actual length of the physiological root apex of the teeth were as follow; A : in the maxillary central incisor : 0.46mm B : in the maxillary lateral incisor : 0.44mm C : in the maxillary canine : 0.44mm D : in the maxillary 1st premolar : a) Buccal : 0.59mm b) Lingual : 0.34mm E : in the maxillary 2nd premolar : 0.54mm F : in the maxillary 1st molar : a) Mesio-buccal : 0.50mm b) Disto-buccal : 0.42mm c) Lingual : 0.56mm G : in the mandibular central incisor : 0.62mm H : in the mandibular lateral incisor : 0.45mm in the mandibular canine : 0.54mm J : in the mandibular 1st premolar : 0.47mm K : in the mandibular 2nd premolar : 0.34mm L : in the mandibular 1st molar : a) Mesio-buccal : 0.54mm b) Mesio-lingual : 0.31mm c) Distal : 0.37mm.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.35-40
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• 1979

The author observed thy actual position of apical foramen and the radiographic appearance of files when the files were filled through canals to the external surface of apical foramen in 280 canals of extracted teeth. All the teeth were radiographed by bisecting technic and once again Walton's projection was employed on mandibular molars. The results were as followings. 1. Sixty five percents of 280 canals were actually classed as having foramina deviant from true apex of root. 2. 160 of 280 canals(Fifty seven percents) appeared to be filled short of apex on the radiograph. 3. When Walton's projection was employed to open up two mesial canals of mandibular molars and compared to straight-on projection, twelve of 120 canals Ten percent appeared to be different in radiographic appearence.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• 제55권1호
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• pp.42-52
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the preferred method of root canal length determination and the apical limit for canal instrumentation among endodontic teachers of dental school. A questionnaire on the preferred method of root canal length determination and the apical limit for canal instrumentation was designed and distributed to endodontic teachers of various dental schools. The response rate was 90%. The most preferred method of root canal length determination was Electronic apex locator (EAL)(89%). The most favoured apical limit for canal instrumentation was 0.5 to 1.0 mm short of the radiographic apex(78%). The most preferred method of using EAL was that the working length is taken at 'APEX' mark and then distracted 0.5mm from that length.(41%). When there is no agreement between radiographic measurement and EAL measurement, 74% of respondents chose the length of EAL measurement. The majority of endodontic teachers from Korean dental schools preferred EAL to radiograph method in determining root canal length.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.347-357
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• 1997

An accurate working length is an essential factor in the success of endodontic treatment. There are several methods for determining working length; electronic apex locator, tactile sense by clinician, and radiography. Among these methods, the most commonly used method is radiography. But this method requires excessive radiation, long developing time, and many equipments. In additon, it could give an image distortion and two dimensional image. To improve these disadvantages, an intraoral digital radiographic system (Digora$^{(R)}$) which use an imaging plate instead of a film, was developed. The purpose of this investigation was to compare Digora imaging with conventional radiography in determining the working length. Maxillary first or second molars of human dried skull were used. Files were inserted into canals at randomly selected lengths, from 2mm short of the radiographic apex to 2rnm beyond. Radiographs and Digora images(Digora positive and Digora negative) were evaluated to determine the adjustment needed to place the file 0.5mm from the radiographic apex. The results were as follows ; 1. There was no significant difference in accuracy between those evaluated in ${\pm}0.5mm$ and those accurately evaluated in the 3 images. 2. When comparing the accuracy of each image without distinguishing the 3 images, in the group accurately determined within ${\pm}0.5mm$, the mesiobuccal group showed significantly higher accuracy compared to the palatal group(p<0.05).

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.129-137
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• 2012

Purpose: To compare different radiographic methods for assessing endodontically treated teeth. Materials and Methods: Root canal treatments were applied in 120 extracted mandibular teeth, which were divided into four groups: (1) ideal root canal treatment (60 teeth), (2) insufficient lateral condensation (20 teeth), (3) root canals filled short of the apex (20 teeth), (4) overfilled root canal treatment (20 teeth). The teeth were imaged using intraoral film, panoramic film, digital intraoral systems (CCD and PSP), CCD obtained with portable X-ray source, digital panoramic, and CBCT images obtained at 0.3 $mm^3$ and 0.2 $mm^3$ voxel size. Images were evaluated separately by three observers, twice. Kappa coefficients were calculated. The percentage of correct readings obtained from each modality was calculated and compared using a t-test (p<0.05). Results: The intra-observer kappa for each observer ranged between 0.327 and 0.849. The inter-observer kappa for each observer for both readings ranged between 0.312 and 0.749. For the ideal root canal treatment group, CBCT with 0.2 $mm^3$ voxel images revealed the best results. For insufficient lateral condensation, the best readings were found with periapical film followed by CCD and PSP. The assessment of teeth with root canals filled short of the apex showed the highest percentage of correct readings by CBCT and CCD. For the overfilled canal treatment group, PSP images and conventional periapical film radiographs had the best scores. Conclusion: CBCT was found to be successful in the assessment of teeth with ideal root canal treatment and teeth with canals filled short of the apex.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.501-511
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• 1995

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the position and shape of mental foramen in periapical radiographs. For this study, periapical radiographs of premolar areas were obtained from the 200 adults. Accordingly, the positional and shape changes of mental foramen were evaluated. The authors obtained radiographs according to changes in radiation beam direction in periapical radiographs of premolar areas, and then evaluated the positional and shape changes of mental foramen. The following results were obtained: 1. Shapes of mental foramen were observed elliptical(34.3％), round or oval(28.0％), unidentified(25.5％) and diffuse(12.2％) type in descending order of frequency. 2. Horizontal positions of mental foramen were most frequently observed at the 2nd premolar area(55.3％), the area between the 1st premolar and 2nd premolar(39.6％), the area between the 2nd premolar and 1st molar(3.4％), the 1st premolar area(1.0％), the area between the canine and 1st premolar(0.7％) in descending order of frequency. 3. Vertical positions of mental foramen were most frequently observed at the inferior to apex(67.1％), and at apex(24.8％), overlap with apex(6.4％), superior to apex(1.7％) in descending order of frequency. 4. Shapes of mental foramen were more obviously observed at the upward 10° positioned periapical radiographs. And according to the changes of horizontal and vertical position, they were observed similar to normally positioned periapical radiographs.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.150-160
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• 1996

The present study was to evaluate the accuracy of the frequency dependent type apex locator, Root-ZX. The subjects included 505 root canals of 238 teeth treated by the Department of Conservative Dentistry, and 22 human premolars which were schduled to be extracted for the orthodontic reasons. The results were as follows ; 1. The working lengths determined by Root-ZX were compared with radiographic readings. Of the total 505 root canals, 66 % showed coincidence within ${\pm}0.5mm$ and the average readings of Root-ZX were $0.13mm{\pm}1.05$ longer than those of radiographic readings. 2. The length difference between the file tip determined by Root-ZX and the apical constriction in extracted teeth were measured. Of the total 24 root canals, 70.8 % showed coincidence within ${\pm}0.5mm$ and the average readings of Root-ZX were $0.12mm{\pm}0.50$beyond the apical constriction. 3. The vitality of the teeth did not show any statistical difference(p>0.05) in the accuracy of the Root-ZX readings. The presence of the periapical lesions, however, significantly lowered the percentage of ${\pm}0.5mm$ accuracy in Root-ZX measurements.(p<0.05). In the presence of periapical lesions, the percentage within ${\pm}0.5mm$ was significantly lower.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.339-345
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro accuracy of Root ZX(Morita Co., Japan) which is the ratio type electronic apex locator. The 86 extracted human palatal roots of maxillary molar with fully formed apices were used. File lengths with the file tip just visible at the foramen were compared to those measured with Root ZX. For length measuring with Root ZX, saline test model with which the apical 1/3 of each root was submerged into normal saline were designed. The root canal lengths were determined with Root ZX and the radiographs were taken with a file in the canal. The distances from file tips of Root ZX lengths to apecies in radiographs also were measured with Profile projector PJ311(Mitutoyo Co., Japan). The results were as follows : 1. The root canal length determined with electronic apex locator was $0.78{\pm}0.53mm$ shorter than the length with visual measurement. 2. The file tip of Root ZX lengths was located at $0.85{\pm}0.49mm$ away from the apex in radiograph. 3. The accuracy of the Root ZX was 79.1% within 0.5mm of visual working length and 96.5% within 1.0mm.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.41-49
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• 1985

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the initial and postoperative radiographic features of the endodontic treated teeth. The author examined the radiographs which comprise 114 teeth with 155 canals of 64 persons. The following factors were considered; Age, sex, tooth location, number of root canals, postoperative periods, initial diagnosis, and radiographic findings, postoperative radiographic findings. The apical levels of the root fillings were 76.8% to apex, 19.0% underfilling, 3.9% overfilling. The following results were obtained. 1. Of the 93 teeth which revealed initial periapical rarefaction, 66 teeth (71.0%) had showed complete bone healing, 19 teeth (20.4%) decreased rarefaction, 6 teeth (6.5%) no change, 2 teeth (2.2%) increased rarefaction after 20.0 months mean healing time. 2. 21 teeth which had no initial periapical rarefaction showed no occurrence of new periapical rarefaction. 3. Of the 66 teeth completely healed, 53 teeth (80.3%) had showed reappearance of lamina dura, 64 teeth (97.0%) reappearance of periodontal ligament space after 23.4 months mean healing time.