A National Wide Survey of Opinions and Attitude of Endodontists towards the Intra Canal Seperation of Endodontic Instruments

Aim: The purpose of current survey is to investigate the opinions and attitudes of endodontists towards the intracanal separation of endodontic instruments, attending a national conference in India. Materials and Methods: 1000 copies of the questionnaire were circulated at the 28th IACDE and 21st IES National Conference, held at Hyderabad, amongst the Endodontists and students pursuing post- graduation in conservative dentistry and endodontics at various colleges across the country, on the issue of instrument separation. The survey participants were asked about experience of instrument separation, management of fractured instruments, techniques used for removal of fractured instruments. Results: This survey elicited a response rate of 68.5%. The respondents of our survey comprised of 73.4% being post graduate students and 26.6% being staff delegates. Of the respondents, 51.4% would use an endodontic file for 2-5 times before discarding. Files manufactured by Nickel-Titanium alloy were most commonly separated in root canal (64.4%). Step back technique is more prone for separation of instrument (60.4%). The majority of respondents reported that they would try to retrieve fractured instruments located in the coronal one-third (71.7%), bypass when located in middle third (69.1%), leave and review when located in apical third (76.8%) of root canal. The most frequently used technique for the retrieval of fractured instrument was ultrasonic (39.7%). Overall, 35.2% of the respondents reported experience of root perforation as a complication during retrieval of fractured instruments. Most respondents have reported a poor success rate in retrieving the fractured instrument when in apical third (91.2%). A total of 66.7% of respondents noticed highest incidence of fracture in mesial root of mandibular molar. 45% preferred using microscope for removal of separated instrument. Conclusion: General awareness, knowledge and understanding of most aspects related to fracture of endodontic instruments was apparent among majority of the participants.