Knowledge-, attitude-, and practice-based survey on instrument separation and its management among endodontists and postgraduates in India - A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire

[摘要] Introduction: The aim of this survey was to investigate the current knowledge and attitude toward intracanal instrument separation and the most common modality of treatment employed among endodontists and postgraduates in India. Materials and Methods: A validated web-based questionnaire that comprised close-ended and partially close-ended questions in four categories was circulated by e-mail along with the informed consent to 1100 endodontists and postgraduates. The participants were asked about the frequency of instrument separation, possible etiological factors, management, and techniques used for instrument retrieval. Reliability was checked by asking ten random participants to fill the forms twice within a time frame of 15 days. Statistical Analysis: The validity and reliability scores for the survey were calculated using content validity ratio and kappa test, respectively. All the analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0 software. Results: A total of 499 responses were received, yielding a response rate of 45.3%. The content validity ratio was 0.9 and kappa scores for reliability were 0.98. The survey respondents comprised 47.6% of endodontists and 52.4% of postgraduates. Majority of the respondents (59.5%) opted to bypass, clean, and shape the canal and incorporate the separated instrument in the obturation. Ultrasonics (60.9%) was the most preferred technique for instrument retrieval of which 28.5% of the respondents used direct ultrasonic vibrations, 23.1% used indirect vibrations, and 48.4% used both direct/indirect vibrations. Conclusions: The respondents of the survey were aware of the possible etiological factors and management techniques used for retrieval of the separated instrument. Majority of them chose to bypass the separated instrument. Ultrasonics under a dental operating microscope was the most commonly employed technique for retrieval.

[学科分类] 口腔科学

[关键词] Indian endodontists;instrument separation;knowledge;attitude;and practice survey;retrieval techniques;root canal treatment