Endodontic procedural errors and their reporting and referral among dental graduates working at dental institutes in Punjab: a cross-sectional study
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To find the frequency and type of endodontic procedural errors encountered by the dental graduates and their reporting and referral in cases of failure.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January 2022 to 15th July 2022. Data was collected through online questionnaires using Google-forms distributed among dental graduates working in the operative department of four private and two public dental institutes in Punjab, Pakistan. Out of 269 graduates, 255 (94.7%) participated in the study. Data was analyzed by SPSS version-25.
RESULTS: Procedural errors were experienced by 222/255 (87.1%) respondents. Errors reported by male and female were 95% and 83.1% respectively. Most errors occurred during canal preparation (n=228; 89.4%), followed by access opening (n=208; 81.6%) and obturation (n=192; 75.3%) stage. Overall, most common errors were over- or under-extended obturation (n=192; 75.3%), ledge (n=161; 63.1%) and access cavity perforation (n=136 (53.3%). About 86.2% (n=220/255) of respondents tried to handle errors on their own. 19 (7.4%) and 48 (18.8%) rarely/never informed the department. In case of failure, 121 (47.4%) referred their case to their supervisor and 87 (34.1%) sought help from a colleague. Patients were not informed about the error in 29 (11.3%) cases.
CONCLUSION: Most errors occurred during canal preparation, access opening and obturation. Most common errors were over- or under-extended obturation & ledge. Majority of graduates prefer to handle the errors on their own. Help-seeking from supervisors and informing patients need to be improved. A system for reporting errors and a hierarchical management structure should be established.
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