Causes of Root Canal Failure Noted in Afid

The aim of the study was to determine the most common causes of root canal failure in patients who reported to the operative department of AFID( Armed forces institute of dentistry) for retreatment. This was a cross sectional study carried out at the operative department of AFID Rawalpindi from January 2011 to December 2012. Among 200 patients included in the study,112 (56 %) were male and 88(44%) were female with mean age of 31.24 years(SD ± 10.1). In the present study the most common cause of root canal failure was found to be underfilled (42%) followed by poor lateral condensation (22%) and unfilled/untreated (20%), overfilled (6%), fractured instruments (4%) and inadequate coronal restorations (3%). The patients presented with different symptoms The most common symptom being the tenderness (74%) followed by pain (20%) ,swelling (15%), loss of restoration (13%), sinus formation (6%), mobility (4%), fractured crown (4%) and split tooth (1%).