Assessing sterilization and infection control practices: the case of private dental practitioners in east Delhi region

Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to compare evaluate the quantitative formation of smear layer at the coronal, middle and apical thirds of root canals after using five different systems under the scanning electron microscope. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 75 extracted single-rooted human premolars. The teeth were divided into five experimental groups of 15 each. Group 1 was Control Group (Manual NiTi K-flexfile), Group 2 was Hyflex CM Files, Group 3 was ProTaper Next Files, Group 4 was Twisted Files and Group 5 was WaveOne Files. Evaluation of the photomicrographs was done to grade the smear layer with a 5 score index for each using reference photographs. Photomicrographs at X4000 (for the smear layer) were taken in the apical, middle and coronal thirds of the canal. Results: Lower scores were found to be more among Group 1 and Group 3 whereas higher scores were found to be significantly more among Group 4 in Coronal, Middleand Apical third. The mean smear layer remaining value was significantly (p-value≤0.05) lower among GROUP 1 in comparison to groups 2, 4 and 5 in coronal and middle third. The mean smear layer remaining value was significantly (p-value≤0.05) lower among GROUP 1 in comparison to group 2 and 4 in apical third. Conclusion: Manual NiTi K-flexofiles were found to have the maximum cleaning efficiency in the root canal at the coronal third as well as the middle third whereas at the apical third WaveOne files gave excellent results.