J Korean Acad Conserv Dent.  2006 Sep;31(5):371-377. 10.5395/JKACD.2006.31.5.371.

In vitro comparison of measurement accuracy in pre-enlarged and enlarged canals with four apex locators

• Sung SY
• Park JK
• Hur B
• Kim HC

• KMID: 1986880
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5395/JKACD.2006.31.5.371

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to assess the accuracy of measurements in pre-enlarged canals with small instruments and to compare the accuracies, in enlarged canal, with small size instruments and instruments that match the actual canal diameter using Root ZX, Bingo1020, SmarPex, and e-Magic Finder. Ten extracted teeth were embedded in an alginate model made for testing apex locators. A size 10 file was placed into the root canal until the tip of the file reached the plane of the major diameter of the foramen under a dental operating microscope at the 25 x magnification. The measurement was done with digital caliper and defined as actual length. Electronic length measurement with a size 10 file in pre-enlarged canal was done by reading the index indicating Apex of each device to gain a definite value. After completion of canal enlargement to a size 45 file, each difference between actual length and electric measurement value with a size 10 and 40 files in enlarged canal was recorded as L10 and L40. The one-way ANOVA and Scheffe's multiple range tests were computed for analyze the differences among the four apex locators in the same group. The Student's t-test between L10 and L40 of each locator was done. The accuracies of electronic measurements were significantly different among the 4 devices. The file size made no difference on the accuracy of electronic measurement in enlarged canal with same device. The e-Magic Finder was the most accurate device among the 4 apex locators used in this study.

Keyword

Electronic Apex Locator; File size; Measurement accuracy; Working length

MeSH Terms

Dental Pulp Cavity
Tooth

Figure

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  Figure 1 Schematic diagram of alginate model (a: file, b: lip clip, c: apex locator, d: alginate).

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