An audit on technical quality of root fillings performed by undergraduate students

AIM: To evaluate radiographically the technical quality of root fillings performed by undergraduate dental students and to assess whether students were exposed to an appropriate endodontic case mix during their clinical training. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective audit was undertaken evaluating the clinical records of patients who underwent endodontic procedures during the period from September 2015 to June 2016 in the Dental School at Queen's University Belfast, UK. Two final-year dental students were trained and calibrated to evaluate postoperative intra-oral periapical radiographs of completed root canal treatments using specific assessment criteria. Data were presented as frequencies, percentage and mean ± standard deviation (SD). Comparisons of treatment outcomes between groups (posterior and anterior teeth) were calculated using Fisher's exact test, and the level of significance was set at P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In the majority of the teeth treated by undergraduate students at Queen's University Belfast, the technical quality of the root filling was acceptable and students were exposed to an appropriate case mix for endodontic training.