Knowledge about Endodontic Criteria Prior to Construction of Intraradicular Retainers

Methods: An evaluation tool has been elaborated as an objective questionnaire, containing five radiographic images for each of the factors to be evaluated. These images were simultaneously selected by two evaluators. Such images matched possible clinical cases. All the participants answered to the questionnaire and observed the same printed and projected images.

Results: Fifty-five (n=55) students participated, and the data obtained were organized as an Excel database. It consisted of a qualitative analysis, where each answer was classified as correct or wrong; the percentage of correct ones for each of the criteria being evaluated was as follow: 80% for presence of filling material; 80% for the apical level of the restoration; 92,73% for the filling compaction; and 67,27% for evaluation of bacterial contamination.

Conclusions: The results showed satisfactory knowledge about the main aspects to be evaluated. However, there is still need for reviewing methodologies that aim at adding and applying endodontic and prosthetic knowledge.