CHARACTERIZATION OF ENDODONTIC TREATMENTS PERDORMED BY FOUBA UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS USING ENDO CASE

Abstract: ntroduction: The American Association of Endodontists (AAE) offers the EndoCase mobile application (ECA), which furnishes a rubric for delineating the level of case intricacy and furnishes guidelines for timely patient referral.Objectives: 1) To delineate the complexity of endodontic treatment administered by undergraduate students at the Endodontics Department of the School of Dentistry, University of Buenos Aires (FOUBA); and 2) To correlate the difficulty level with treatment quality outcomes. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 50 randomly selected patients treated by undergraduate students under faculty supervision of the Endodontics Department at FOUBA from May to August 2023. 1) The case complexity assessment form provided by the AAE via the ECA application was utilized. 2) Treatment quality was assessed through postoperative radiographic examination, considering parameters such as homogeneity, obturation length, and proper coronal sealing. Categorical variables were described using absolute frequencies and percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CI), estimated using the Wilson method. Chi-square test was employed to compare frequencies. p<0.05 was considered significant.Results: 1) Among the 50 recorded cases, difficulty levels were low, moderate, and high in 3 (6%; 95% CI: 2% to 16%), 7 (14%, 95% CI: 7% to 26%), and 40 (80%; 95% CI: 67% to 89%) cases, respectively. Thirty-seven different difficulty parameters were recorded. The most prevalent were teeth with extensive crown destruction (19%; 95% CI: 14% to 25%), need for prior treatment before endodontics (8%; 95% CI: 5% to 13%), moderate pain or inflammation (8%; 95% CI: 5% to 13%), and narrow canal and chamber (8%; 95% CI: 5% to 13%). The difficulty score ranged from 21 to 40, with a median of 26. 2) Treatment technique was correct in 49 cases (98%; 95% CI: 90% to 100%) and incorrect in only one case (2%; 95% CI: 0% to 10%), with this difference being significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that the complexity of cases managed by this group of students is high with successful resolution.