Efficiency of an Integrated Apex Locator in Determining Working Length in Various Irrigating Solutions: An In Vivo Study

OBJECTIVE(S): The objective of this in vivo study was to compare and evaluate the accuracy of VDW Gold (VDW, Munich, Germany) integrated apex locator (IAL) and Root ZX Mini (J. Morita Corp., Kyoto, Japan) in two different irrigating solutions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients who required extraction were included in the study. Following local anesthesia, access opening was performed under rubber dam isolation. Initial negotiation of canal was performed using size 10 K-Files (M-Access, Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland). Cervical preparation was carried out using Rotary ProTaper SX files (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) under copious irrigation with 3% sodium hypochlorite. Patients were divided into two groups of 20 each: Group I (NaOCl) and Group II (CHX). The working length (WL) was determined in triplicates for each tooth using Root ZX apex locator and with S1 ProTaper rotary file in continuous motion in case of VDW Gold IAL in the presence of 3% sodium hypochlorite and 2% chlorhexidine. Therapeutic extraction was performed and WL was determined using size 15 K-Files under 20× magnification. RESULTS: The paired sample independent t test showed that there was no significant difference between the Root ZX and VDW apex locator in determining the minor foramen in NaOCl group (P = 0.234, 0.453 respectively) and CHX group (P = 0.085, 0.087) when compared with actual working length. CONCLUSION: Both the apex locators were equally effective in determining WL at 0.5 mm from the apex in presence of irrigating solutions, that is, NaOCl and chlorhexidine.