[Survey of the current situation on clinical application of root canal treatments in Zhejiang province].

Purpose: To investigate the present situation of root canal treatment (RCT) applied by the endodontists in the major hospitals of Zhejiang province.

Methods: Dentists in different hospitals were asked to fill in the questionnaire, which included the methods and factors of the first-choice treatment of endodontic diseases, instruments and materials used in RCT. The data were analysed by descriptive analysis and Mann-Whiteney U test using SPSS12.0 software package.

Results: 410 effective questionnaires from 76 different hospitals were received. The reply rate was 91.1%. RCT was performed as the first-choice of endodontic treatment in 93.5% of total 410 dentists. And 90.2% of them used hand instruments to prepare root canals. Push-pull or stepback technique was widely used in anterior or posterior root canal preparation. Hydrogen peroxide was adopted to irrigate root canal by the majority of respondents (88.3%). Nearly half of the respondents used camphorate phenol as intracanal medicine. 77.6% of them adopted cold lateral condensation technique and 32.7% of them used gutta-percha mixing with iodoform for canal obturation. 74.6% of them applied one-visit endodontic treatment sometime and prescribed antibiotics or hormone to the patients after RCT.

Conclusions: Although RCT has been widely used in endodontic diseases by dentists in Zhejiang province, some advanced techniques and new materials still need to be adopted and refined.