Background: Electronic apex locators (EALs) are frequently used as adjuvant to radiographs in working length (WL) determination. The introduction of integrated apex locators (IALs) further simplified the root canal treatment by continuous monitoring of the apex while root canal shaping.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of radiographs, EAL, and IAL in determining the WL in the presence of various irrigants.
Materials and methods: The present in vivo study was carried out on 30 patients who were divided into 10 in each group, based on the type of irrigant used; 0.9% saline (Group 1), 0.2% chlorhexidine (Group 2), and 2.5% of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL) (Group 3). In each group, WL is determined using conventional radiographs, Root ZX Mini (EAL), and CanalPro CL2i (IAL).
Statistical analysis: Kruskal-Wallis test and Friedman's two-way ANOVA test were used for statistical analysis.
Results: Mean WL was comparably lower with Root ZX Mini, while the WL by CanalPro CL2i and the radiographic method were comparable. In all methods, the type of solutions used did not influence the WL, with a higher mean WL when NaOCL is used as an irrigant. Nevertheless, the above comparisons were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: the irrigation solutions employed in this study had no impact on the performance of apex locators and radiographs.
Keywords: Apex locators; apical foramen; chlorhexidine; periapical radiographs; sodium hypochlorite; working length.
Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics.