Evaluation of Dentaport ZX and Raypex 6 electronic apex locators: An in vivo study

Introduction: Raypex 6 is an electronic apex locator (EAL) that has not yet been tested in vivo. The purpose of this in vivo study was to compare the accuracy of two EALs: the Dentaport ZX and the Raypex 6. Material and Methods: The study involved 36 straight single-rooted teeth. A 10-K file was advanced until the EAL detected the major foramen. The file was fixed in a replaceable pattern of light-cured composite. The apical part of each canal was trimmed to expose the file tip. The distances from the file tips to the major foramen were measured. Results: Wilcoxon’s signed Rank test found no significant differences between the Dentaport ZX and Raypex 6 in terms of their abilities to detect the major foramen (P = .52) The Dentaport ZX was accurate 82.35% of the time to ± 0.5 mm and 97.05% of the time to ± 1 mm, whereas the Raypex 6 was accurate 88.22% of the time to ± 0.5 mm and 100% of the time to ± 1 mm. Conclusions: No statistically significant differences were observed between the performance of the Dentaport ZX and Raypex 6 EALs under the in vivo clinical conditions used in this study. Key words:Dentaport ZX, electronic apex locator, major foramen, Raypex 6, working length.