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Aim:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of widening the apical root canal preparation (RCP) on the efficiency of different ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) agitation protocols on smear layer removal: EDTA; EDTA + Easy Clean in rotary movement (ECROT); EDTA + Easy Clean in reciprocating movement (ECREC); and EDTA + Passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI). Materials and methods:A total of 80 mandibular premolars had their crowns sectioned and then were divided into two groups according to widening: size 25 or 40, 0.08 taper. Sequentially they were once again allocated to subgroups according to the agitation protocol performing eight experimental groups (n = 10). Ten additional teeth were prepared for controls (C+/C−). The specimens were then submitted to the cleaning protocols and thereafter cleaved and microphotographed by variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at previously determined points along their root thirds (750×). Scores were attributed to the images, and data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis, Student-Newman-Keuls and Friedman tests. Results:A higher widening was observed to have a positive influence on cleaning efficiency offering significant differences in global and apical third evaluations (p < 0.05). Relative to the agitation, significant differences were observed mainly in the apical third, with PUI and ECROT providing the best results (p < 0.05); no difference for C+ was observed when higher widening was employed. Conclusion:A greater widening of the apical third provided a significant improvement in the action of the agitation/activation protocols. Moreover, the PUI and ECROT activation methods were shown to be superior to the use of EDTA solely, particularly in the apical third. Clinical significance:The findings of this study reinforce the need for clinical use of additional methods to complement cleaning. Therefore, it is important for professionals to have knowledge and command of these protocols to obtain more satisfactory results.

Although Root ZX is considered the gold standard electronic foramen locator (EFL), two variations of this device were launched, however without different operating mechanisms. This investigation aims to evaluate the precision of Root ZX (RZX), Root ZX II (RII), and Root ZX Mini (RM) EFLs. After access cavity preparation, 32 mandibular single rooted human premolars had their real length measured with the aid of a #15 K-type manual file under magnification (25x). Electronic measurements were performed by the devices in an alternate order until the apical foramen was reached (0.0). Each measurement was performed with adjusted file to the real length of the teeth and verified with a digital caliper. The accuracy of the EFLs was 68.8% (RZX), 65.8% (RII), and 68.8% (RM), considering ±0.5 mm as a margin of tolerance. The mean errors of the devices were 0.37 ± 0.25 mm (RZX), 0.41 ± 0.34 mm (RII), and 0.32 ± 0.28 mm (RM). ANOVA and Tukey test were applied to analyze the obtained data, which showed that there were no statistically significant differences among the locators (P > .05). It can be concluded that the three tested devices demonstrated precise measurements of the real length of the canal without performance differences among them.

O uso das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) para a troca de dados e informações em Odontologia, provendo serviços de saúde em situações em que seja necessário transpor barreiras geográficas, temporais, sociais e culturais é chamado de Teleodontologia. O objetivo dessa revisão integrativa foi analisar o panorama situacional global da Teleodontologia. Foram selecionados artigos científicos publicados nos últimos 10 anos, na íntegra, tanto em português quanto em inglês. A busca dos periódicos foi realizada nas bases de dados Scientific Eletronic Library Online, Literatura Latino-americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde e PubMed, por meio da combinação dos seguintes descritores “Telemedicine”, “Dentistry”, “Distance, Education”, nas línguas portuguesa e inglesa. Foram encontrados 340 artigos, sendo 14 incluídos para avaliação final, sendo o PubMed a base de dados que mais prevaleceu (71,4%). A maioria dos estudos (85,7%) foi incluída no nível IV de evidência. Foram identificados estudos informando sobre o uso dessa tecnologia para minimizar as barreiras geográficas e fornecer uma assistência adequada às populações mais vulneráveis e outros sobre relatos de profissionais, estudantes de Odontologia e pacientes quanto ao uso da Teleodontologia. Concluiu-se que a Teleodontologia é uma realidade global, mas ainda necessita de disseminação de suas experiências na comunidade científica, para sua consolidação como uma ferramenta educativa e de assistência à saúde.