Introduction: This cross-sectional survey determined the dental prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) in selected Iranian population, and evaluated the influence of the quality of ROOT CANAL treatment (RCT) and their coronal restorations (CR) on the periapical status.Materials and Methods: A total of 1064 panoramic radiographies were evaluated by two observers during 2009. The quality of RCT i.e. length/density of ROOT FILLINGS and CR in addition to periapical status of endodontically treated teeth were recorded. Their interrelationship was analyzed by Chi-squared, logistic regression and Spearman's rho statistics. Hosmer and Lemeshow tests were used for assessing fitness of logistic regression model and one sample k-s test was used for evaluating of normality of the data.Results: Our results showed that 527 teeth (52%) of the endodontically treated teeth presented with AP radiographic ally. The percentages of teeth which fulfilled the criteria of an acceptable RCT or CR radiographic ally were 42.3 and 62.5 respectively. Incidence of AP among teeth with acceptable RCT (29.1%) was significantly lower than those suffering from unacceptable RCT (68.8%) (P<0.001). Moreover, adequate CR demonstrated a significantly better periapical status (58.6%) compared to teeth with inadequate CR (30.3%) (P<0.001). The incidence of AP ranged from 25.6% (good qualities) to 79.5% (bad qualities) (P<0.001). Cases with both unacceptable RCT/CR were 11 times more likely to have AP than cases with acceptable RCT/CR. The quality of RCT and CR were found to impact the periapical health of endodontically treated teeth.Conclusion: There are a significant high number of technically unacceptable endodontic and restorative treatments in Iran; therefore considerable efforts are needed to improve the standards of endodontic and restorative treatments.

The single-cone technique, also known as the hydraulic condensation technique, is widely employed in endodontics. However, the aforementioned method is presented with certain limitations,specifically concerning the coronal seal and the adaptation of the coronal third of a master gutta-percha (GP) with a round cross-section to the coronal dentinal walls of ROOT CANALs with semi-round or oval cross-sections. Through two case reports, the current article introduces the coronal vertical condensation (CVC) technique,aiming to enhance GP adaptation to CANAL walls in similar scenarios. In fact, the coronal vertical condensation technique amalgamates the different aspects of warm vertical condensation and single-cone techniques. In CVC, following the placement of the master GP cone, an electrical heat carrier is inserted immediately a few millimeters apical from the CANAL orifice to remove the coronal portion of the master GP cone. Subsequently, a hand plugger is used to condense GP in the vertical dimension, and the coronal space is backfilled using melted GP. The implementation of CVC technique has demonstrated an improved coronal adaptation of GP with CANAL walls. The stated technique seems beneficial,especially in the obturation of severely curved CANALs or ROOT CANALs with a final preparation shape of variable taper.

Statement of Problem: Gutta-percha presents no adhesion to the tooth structure and sealers. Ideally, it should be replaced by a material that offers better sealing in the entire length of the ROOT CANAL.Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the coronal microleakage of a ROOT CANAL filled with different pairs of Gutta-percha (GP), Resilon, Epiphany and AH26.Materials and Method: For this study, 130 mandibular premolars were chosen. After decoronation and preparation of the ROOT CANALs of the teeth, they were divided into four experimental groups with 30 teeth each and 2 control groups. Group one was obturated with GP and AH26 sealer, group two with GP and Epiphany sealer, group three with Resilon tips and Epiphany sealer, and group four with Resilon tips and AH26 sealer. All the groups were obturated, using cold lateral condensation. Micro-leakage was tested using a two-chamber bacterial method. The data were subjected to statistical analysis, using a Kaplan-Meier test.Results: The bacterial microleakage test showed no significant difference between groups (p =0.1718).Conclusion: It is concluded that, in vitro, the epiphany obturation system is as good as gutta-percha sealed with AH26 when compared over 90 days of saliva storage.

Introduction: The current study aimed to compare the quality of ROOT CANAL obturation performed with cold lateral condensation with other obturation techniques. Materials and Methods: Diverse Search was conducted using six electronic/academic databases following PICOS (i. e. population, intervention, control, outcomes, and study design) strategy: (P) Extracted mature permanent teeth,(I) Obturation techniques except for cold lateral condensation,(C) Cold lateral condensation tyechnique,(O) Quality of ROOT CANAL obturation,and (S) In vitro studies assessing parameters using micro-computed tomography. The statistical method used for the meta-analyses was the “inverse variance DerSimonian-Laird test”. The heterogeneity data was calculated using the T2, Cochran Q test, and I2 statistics. Results: Fifteen studies were included for the final analysis,one had a low risk of bias, eight a moderate risk, and six a high risk of bias. Ten studies were selected for meta-analyses,three studies comparing cold lateral condensation with carrier-based gutta-percha techniques [P=0. 96,mean difference (MD)=-0. 02,confidence interval (CI): (-0. 77, 0. 73),I2=21%],three comparing cold lateral condensation with single-cone techniques [P=0. 75,MD=-0. 39,CI: (-2. 77, 1. 99),I2=92%],two comparing cold lateral condensation and thermo-plasticized injectable techniques [P=0. 37,MD=5. 91,CI: (-7. 13, 18. 94),I2=99%],and five comparing cold lateral condensation with warm vertical condensation techniques [P<0. 0001,MD=5. 29,CI=(2. 84, 7. 74),I2=92%]. The overall effect reported significant results [P=0. 0003,MD=2. 69,CI=(1. 23, 4. 16),I2=96%],favoring fewer voids and gaps for the other used obturation techniques. Conclusions: Cold lateral condensation and single-cone techniques presented no statistical differences. Nonetheless, Warm vertical condensation technique had better results compared to cold lateral condensation.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of training duration and case difficulty on the radiographic quality of ROOT CANAL FILLINGS performed by dental students in Saudi Arabia.Methods and Materials: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted at King Saud University. ROOT CANAL treatments performed by 55 dental students from 2012-2014 were included in the study. Each student treated at least five teeth during the first year of clinical endodontic training and another five teeth during the second year. Case difficulty was assessed based on tooth position in the dental arch and preoperative conditions. The radiographic quality of the ROOT CANAL filling was evaluated by two endodontists blinded to treatment completion date.The evaluation criteria were adequate obturation, presence of mishaps and preparation taper.The data were statistically analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses; and the level of significance was set at 0.05.Results: Inadequate obturation and mishaps were significantly less prevalent in teeth treated after 2 years of clinical training. The odds ratios for inadequate obturation and mishaps increased significantly as tooth position moved posteriorly.Inadequate obturation and more mishaps were significantly more prevalent in teeth with preoperative conditions. Preparation taper was not significantly affected by training duration or case difficulty.Conclusion: The quality of ROOT CANAL FILLINGS performed by Saudi students was adversely affected by case difficulty. The radiographic quality of ROOT CANAL FILLINGS improved significantly after 2 years of clinical training. Preparation taper outcome is likely dependent on the preparation technique and instrument taper.