Radiographic technical quality of root canal treatment performed by undergraduate dental students at the Academy Dental Teaching Hospital, UMST, Sudan

AIM: To radiographically evaluate the technical quality of root canal treatment performed by undergraduate dental students and compare the findings with other institution's work. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Academy Dental Teaching Hospital involving postoperative periapical radiographs of patients who were endodontically treated by batch #14 undergraduate dental students of final year (2013–2014) from UMST, Sudan. The total number of the students was 21, while periapical radiographs fulfilling the required criteria were 173. The radiographs of each case were evaluated in terms of length, density, and taper of the root canal filling. Procedural errors such as presence of a ledge, perforation, and a separated instrument were also recorded. Chi-square test was used to determine statistically significant differences between variables, with the level of significance set at P ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The overall quality of performed root canal treatment was adequate in almost half (55.5%) of the evaluated teeth. The length and taper of the root canal filling were found to be significantly associated with maxillary and mandibular posterior teeth with P = 0.018 and 0.006, respectively. No associations were found between the density and presence of separated instrument in the maxillary and mandibular posterior teeth, P = 0.314 and 0.480, respectively. CONCLUSION: The radiographic quality of root canal treatment performed by undergraduate students of batch #14 UMST was acceptable in 55.5% of the cases. Special emphasis must be placed on the educational methods and training of students for providing root canal treatment on molar teeth.