Comparison of the accuracy of foraminal electronic locators

Vol. 10 – Number 40 – 2019 CLINICAL DENTISTRY BOOKLET Original article / Original article Page 123-127 Comparison of the accuracy of foraminal electronic locators Carla Bettanin Benvegnú¹ Lauter Eston Pelepenko² José Roberto Vanni³ Volmir João Fornari³ Mateus Silveira Martins Hartmann³ Summary Odontometry is an important step for the success of endodontic therapy and, for this, foraminal electronic locators are used. The electronic method, in obtaining the working length (CT), has proven to be safe and effective, allowing a correct measurement of the tooth. Two different brands of foraminal electronic locators used to obtain the CT before and after cervical preparation were compared and possible differences between the accuracy of the devices were also evaluated. Twenty-four maxillary central incisors extracted from a tooth bank were used. The teeth were inserted in an experimental base composed of alginate. Immediately after the coronary access, the initial electronic measurements were performed, using as criteria the “apex” marking of NovApex and FinePex appliances. Subsequently, the cervical preparation was performed and a new measurement was performed with the two electronic locators. Subsequently, for visual confirmation, a Kerr #10 file was introduced until its end was observed at the foraminal exit with an eight-fold increase. Then, the rubber stop was positioned on the incisal edge and this length was measured with a millimeterized endodontic ruler, obtaining the actual length of the tooth. The data were statistically analyzed and there was no statistical difference in the type of foraminal locator used (p=0.927) for this group of teeth. The cervical preparation also did not influence the measurement (p=0.157). The present study demonstrated 100% accuracy for the NovApex locator and 99.38% for the FinePex locator, proving to be an efficient method to be used in endodontic therapy. Keywords: Endodontics, root canal treatment, root canal preparation, Odontometry.   ¹ Undergraduate student in Dentistry – IMED. ² PhD student in Endodontics – Unicamp, Piracicaba/FOP. 3 Professor of Endodontics – CEOM.