OR20 - Teachability, Perspective, Confidence and Procedural Errors of ACDT Compared to Single-length Instrumentation Techniques Among Endodontic Interns

Abstract: The Arithmetic Crown-down Dynamic Tactile instrumentation technique (ACDTT) was proposed to shape severely curved canals. The technique involves shaping the zone coronal to curvature before shaping the apical portion of the canal. In addition, a formula is proposed to calculate the maximum insertion depths of higher tapered instruments to prevent overflaring and preserve pericervical dentin. This study aims to compare the teachability, application and incidence of procedural errors of ACDT versus single-length instrumentation technique (SLT) among dental interns. Materials and Methods: Dental interns (339) were recruited and trained on the ACDTT and the SLT. Each intern was assigned to shape 4 curved canals on extracted human molars (two canals with each technique). An 8 questions survey was supplied on the ease of each technique. Furthermore, a record of the procedural errors during the instrumentation. Statistical significance was set at α=.05. Results: A significantly higher percentage of participants found learning ACDTT as harder than SLT (p< 0.001). Furthermore, participants found ACDTT more difficult than SLT(p< 0.001). Participants preferred SLT when treating easy (60%) to moderate (57%) cases. Most preferred ACDTT for severe cases (82%) and considered ACDTT a safer instrumentation technique (79%). From 678 canals instrumented using ACDT and SL techniques ACDTT had significantly fewer errors (transportation, instrument separation) than SLT (p< 0.001). Conclusions: SLT was easier to learn and apply than ACDTT. Dental interns had more confidence in ACDTT when shaping severely curved canals. ACDT technique is safer when shaping curved canals and presented minimal procedural error when performed by dental interns.