In vivo accuracy of conventional and digital radiographic methods in confirming root canal working length determination by Root ZX

OBJECTIVES To compare, in vivo, the accuracy of conventional and digital radiographic methods in determining root canal working length. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-five maxillary incisor or canine teeth from 22 patients were used in this study. Considering the preoperative radiographs as the baseline, a 25 K file was inserted into the root canal to the point where the Root ZX electronic apex locator indicated the APEX measurement in the screen. From this measurement, 1 mm was subtracted for positioning the file. The radiographic measurements were made using a digital sensor (Digora 1.51) or conventional type-E films, size 2, following the paralleling technique, to determine the distance of the file tip and the radiographic apex. RESULTS The Student "t" test indicated mean distances of 1.11 mm to conventional and 1.20 mm for the digital method and indicated a significant statistical difference (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The conventional radiographic method was found to be superior to the digital one in determining the working length of the root canal.