DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/P150-WG74
Defense Date
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Dentistry
First Advisor
Karan Replogle
Second Advisor
Samuel Black
Abstract
The purpose of this in-vitro study is to compare the accuracy and reliability of a 3rd and 4th generation electronic apex locator (EAL) in locating the apical foramen when using insulated and non-insulated K files. Forty extracted human adult single-rooted teeth were coronally sectioned and placed in agar. EAL determined tooth length measurements were compared to actual tooth measurements. Comparisons to the standard measures used correlation and paired t-test. Preliminary comparisons of the groups used ANOVA to compare the means and the Brown-Forsythe test to compare variance. In the final analyses, the measurements were compared using a repeated-measures mixed-model multiway ANOVA that allowed for heterogeneous variance in the subgroups. Findings were that accuracy is not different due to insulation in the Root ZX group (p-value=0.50) but is improved in the Elements Diagnostic Unit group (p-value<.001). Reliability is nominally improved with insulation in both the Root ZX and Elements Diagnostic Unit.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
August 2011