Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of two electronic apex locators (Root ZX II and Mini Apex Locator) at initial, preflaring, after instrumentation and retreatment stages of root canal therapy.

Methodology: Sixty canals in 47 extracted teeth were divided into two groups of 30 each. Teeth were accessed, and then the actual working length was measured visually and recorded as the actual canal length at the initial, at preflaring, after instrumentation and after retreatment stages. Teeth were embedded in alginate and the canal length was measured using the Electronic Apex Locator assigned for that group at each stage. Paired sample and the independent t-tests were used for statistical analysis (p = 0.05).

Results: At the initial and preflaring stages, the accuracy of Mini Apex Locator was significantly higher than the Root ZX II (P = 0.029 and P = 0.004). The corresponding percentage values of working length measurements as actual working length, within ± 0.5mm and within ± 1.0mm at each stage were ; for Root ZX II® (30% - 33.33% - 36.66%, 43.33% - 50% - 6.66%, 70% - 30% - 0% and 66.66% - 30% - 3.33%), respectively. For the Mini Apex Locator® (40% - 50% - 10%, 63.33% - 33.33% - 3.33%, 66.66% - 30% - 3.33% and 66.66 - 30% - 3.33%) respectively.

Conclusions: Both Root ZX II and Mini Apex Locator were accurate and reduced the risk of over instrumentation. The accuracy of Mini Apex Locator was more statistically significant at initial and preflaring stages.

Keywords: Electronic Apex Locator; Mini Apex; Root Canal; Root ZX II; Working Length.

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Citation

Citation: Maghaireh Gh., at al. “Accuracy of Two Different Electronic Apex Locators in Treatment and Re-Treatment Cases: An Ex-Vivo Study”.Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 4.2 (2020): 40-46.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Maghaireh Gh., at al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.