Implementing rotary root canal instrumentation in the clinical training of undergraduate students from Saudi Dental Schools: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Introduction: Rotary nickel–titanium files for root canal therapy have become standard treatment modalities in general practice and specialized dental centers. Undergraduate dental students should receive proper training in using rotary files before graduation. Therefore, this study aimed to provide detailed insight into the implementation of rotary root canal instruments in the clinical training of undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: Two randomly selected private schools and 13 government-owned schools were selected to represent all administrative regions in Saudi Arabia. The SurveyMonkey® questionnaire was sent to each dental school through direct communication. It covered most aspects of the rotary root canal instruments used in the clinical training of undergraduate students before graduation. Results: Approximately 92.9% of the included dental schools reported using rotary files in undergraduate teaching; however, only 57.1% had specific clinical requirements for rotary root canal instrumentation in their curricula. Laboratory simulation sessions were the most commonly used preclinical training methods for rotary instrumentation (85.7%). Most dental schools implemented rotary file training in the 4th and 5th years (53.8% and 38.5%, respectively). The ProTaper® (Universal, Next, Gold) was the most commonly used rotary system. Most dental schools had an instructor-to-student ratio of 1:5. Conclusion: Most Saudi dental schools have adopted rotary files during their undergraduate training. However, the curricula of some dental schools do not include a predetermined number of clinical cases treated with rotary instrumentation to ensure better training for students before graduation.

Keywords

• endodontic curriculum
• endodontic teaching
• endodontics
• nickel–titanium
• rotary files