Opinions and Attitudes of Dental Practitioners towards Intracanal Separation of Endodontic Instruments

Objective: To investigate the opinions and attitudes of dental practitioners towards intracanal separation of endodontic instruments and to create awareness regarding the management of separated instruments Study Design: Cross-sectional survey Place and Duration of Study: Department of Operative Dentistry Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Mar to Apr 2021. Methodology: An online questionnaire was circulated among 374 dentists of private and public hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The questionnaire consisted of close-ended questions related to demographic details, dentists' awareness of instrument separation, the frequency of separated instruments, the causes of separation, the management of separated instruments, and the retrieval strategies if used. Results: Out of 374 study participants, 307(82.1%) of the participants thought that operator-related factors such as improper or overuse of the instrument were considered the most common factors for instrument separation during root canal procedures. 205(54.8%) thought unwinding, defective flutes and shiny areas were the most common factors affecting instrument separation. 241(64.4%) of the instruments are separated during cleaning and shaping. 135(36.1%) K files and 119(31.8%) H files were separated in this survey. Conclusion: Most dentists of Rawalpindi and Islamabad face the problem of endodontic instrument separation during rootcanal preparation.