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Stomatologija 2010; 12 (2): 42-50 199 KB

Technical aspects of endodontic treatment procedures among Lithuanian general dental practitioners

Vytaute Peciuliene, Jurate Rimkuviene, Jolanta Aleksejuniene, Markus Haapasalo, Saulius Drukteinis, Rasmute Maneliene

Summary

Objective. The purpose of this study was to gather information about the various aspects, technical and biological, of endodontic treatment as performed by Lithuanian general dental practitioners and to compare their choices with established endodontic treatment standards of undergraduate education.

Materials and Methods. Questionnaires were sent to all 2850 Lithuanian dental practitioners. The structured questionnaire included inquiries about gender, duration of professional activity, working environment, details about instruments and materials.

Results. From total 1532 (53.8%) questionnaires were returned. Only responses from general dental practitioners (1431) were included. Of the respondents 66% never used a rubber dam. Most practitioners relied on conventional stainless steel instruments. The NiTi hand files were often and routinely used by 32.2% of the respondents. Sodium hypochlorite was the most popular choice as a root canal irrigant. Calcium hydroxide paste was used as an inter-appointment medicament. Cold-lateral condensation root ﬁlling method was used by 72.8% of the respondents while 15.6% used a paste for the root filling.

Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that the recently graduated dental practitioners were following the recommended standard of endodontic treatment better than those with a longer time from the graduation. It is important to improve the quality of existing courses of continuous education in endodontology in order to ensure the necessary competency in clinical practice. The low use of a rubber dam and low adoption of new technologies in Lithuania is not acceptable and needs to be changed.

Key words: questionnaire survey, general dental practitioner, root canal treatment.

Received: 16 01 2010

Accepted for publishing: 21 06 2010

¹Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius university, Lithuania
²Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
³Division of Endodontics, Department of Oral Biological & Medical Sciences University of British Columbia, Faculty of Dentistry

Vytaute Peciuliene¹ – D.D.S, PhD, assoc. prof.
Jurate Rimkuviene¹ – D.D.S, PhD, assist. prof.
Jolanta Aleksejuniene² – D.D.S., M.Sc., PhD
Markus Haapasalo³ – D.D.S., PhD., prof.,
Saulius Drukteinis¹ – D.D.S, PhD, lecturer
Rasmute Maneliene¹ – D.D.S., PhD, assoc.prof.

Address correspondence to: Dr. Vytaute Peciuliene Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius university, Lithuania, Zalgirio 117, Vilnius, Lithuania.
E-mail address: vytaute.peciuliene@mf.vu.lt; vytautep@delfi.lt



	Baltic Dental and Maxillofacial Journal

June, 2010, Vol. 12, No. 2 CONTENTS SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES Flapless surgery and immediately loaded implants: A retrospective comparison between implantation with and without computer-assisted planned surgical stent Matteo Danza, Francesco Carinci 35-41 Technical aspects of endodontic treatment procedures among Lithuanian general dental practitioners Vytaute Peciuliene, Jurate Rimkuviene, Jolanta Aleksejuniene, Markus Haapasalo, Saulius Drukteinis, Rasmute Maneliene 42-50 Electromyographic and cephalometric correlation with the predominant masticatory movement Maria Julia P. Coelho-Ferraz, Fausto Berzin, Cesar Ferreira Amorim, Fabio Lourenco Romano, Dagmar de Paula Queluz 51-55 The impact of salivary mutans streptococci and sugar consumption on caries experience in 6-year olds and 12-year olds in Riga Jekaterina Gudkina, Anda Brinkmane 56-59 REVIEW Changes in oral health-related quality of life among children following dental treatment under general anaesthesia. A systematic review Birute Jankauskiene, Julija Narbutaite 60-64 © 2010 Stomatologija		Stomatologija 2010; 12 (2): 42-50 199 KB Technical aspects of endodontic treatment procedures among Lithuanian general dental practitioners Vytaute Peciuliene, Jurate Rimkuviene, Jolanta Aleksejuniene, Markus Haapasalo, Saulius Drukteinis, Rasmute Maneliene Summary Objective. The purpose of this study was to gather information about the various aspects, technical and biological, of endodontic treatment as performed by Lithuanian general dental practitioners and to compare their choices with established endodontic treatment standards of undergraduate education. Materials and Methods. Questionnaires were sent to all 2850 Lithuanian dental practitioners. The structured questionnaire included inquiries about gender, duration of professional activity, working environment, details about instruments and materials. Results. From total 1532 (53.8%) questionnaires were returned. Only responses from general dental practitioners (1431) were included. Of the respondents 66% never used a rubber dam. Most practitioners relied on conventional stainless steel instruments. The NiTi hand files were often and routinely used by 32.2% of the respondents. Sodium hypochlorite was the most popular choice as a root canal irrigant. Calcium hydroxide paste was used as an inter-appointment medicament. Cold-lateral condensation root ﬁlling method was used by 72.8% of the respondents while 15.6% used a paste for the root filling. Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that the recently graduated dental practitioners were following the recommended standard of endodontic treatment better than those with a longer time from the graduation. It is important to improve the quality of existing courses of continuous education in endodontology in order to ensure the necessary competency in clinical practice. The low use of a rubber dam and low adoption of new technologies in Lithuania is not acceptable and needs to be changed. Key words: questionnaire survey, general dental practitioner, root canal treatment. Received: 16 01 2010 Accepted for publishing: 21 06 2010 ¹Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius university, Lithuania ²Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ³Division of Endodontics, Department of Oral Biological & Medical Sciences University of British Columbia, Faculty of Dentistry Vytaute Peciuliene¹ – D.D.S, PhD, assoc. prof. Jurate Rimkuviene¹ – D.D.S, PhD, assist. prof. Jolanta Aleksejuniene² – D.D.S., M.Sc., PhD Markus Haapasalo³ – D.D.S., PhD., prof., Saulius Drukteinis¹ – D.D.S, PhD, lecturer Rasmute Maneliene¹ – D.D.S., PhD, assoc.prof. Address correspondence to: Dr. Vytaute Peciuliene Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius university, Lithuania, Zalgirio 117, Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail address: vytaute.peciuliene@mf.vu.lt; vytautep@delfi.lt