Avaliação de tratamentos endodônticos realizados por acadêmicos de Odontologia de uma instituição de ensino superior da Paraíba, Brasil

ABSTRACT Introduction: Adequate root canal filling is considered a primary factor for the success of endodontic therapy, and is also an important criterion for assessing the quality of treatment. Objective: Radiographically, to evaluate the quality of endodontic treatments performed at the School of Dentistry Clinic of Centro Universitario de Joao Pessoa (UNIPE). Material and Method: The sample consisted of 123 postoperative periapical radiographs from treatments performed at the Endodontic Clinic in a period of 4 years. The endodontic treatments were evaluated using the sociodemographic profile of the patients treated and radiographic aspects, such as taper, apical limit, density, occurrence of obturation errors and presence of adjacent tissue lesions. The data were grouped in a spreadsheet and, subsequently, a statistical analysis was performed. Results: The patient profile was predominantly female, with the age range of 21-30 years, while the most frequent dental group treated was the upper central incisors. Radiographically, it was observed that 39% of the teeth had adjacent tissues lesions, 92.7% had fillings with conical taper, 90.2% had adequate filling density and 67.5% with adequate apical limit. Obturation errors were found in 15.4% of endodontic treatments. Out of all the treatments evaluated, 61% were acceptable according to apical limit and density of obturation. Conclusion: In conclusion, among the radiographs evaluated, the great majority was acceptable. However, some innovative strategies should be adopted by instructors to increase the rate of acceptable treatments and further the rate of errors. Descriptors: Dental Radiography; Root Canal Therapy; Endodontics.