Indian Journal of Dental Education

The success of endodontic therapy relies on thorough debridement, shaping and completely filling the entire root canal system.Failure to recognize additional canal results in poor prognosis of the treatment. The advance in the technology and knowledge and experience of the clinician has led to meticulous attention in locating as well as treating these extra canals successfully. Middle mesial canal is an additional canal found in the mesial root of mandibular molars. These canals may either merge with the main canal or may leave as an independent canal. The present case report describes the successful treatment of three independent mesial canals in mandibular second molar

Keywords: Middle Mesial Canal; Mesial Root; Mandibular Second Molar. 

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of relationship of teeth with masticatory system. Masticatory system includes TMJ, muscles of mastication and teeth. Treatment plan is designed after evaluation of masticatory system; collecting detailed data of records and facebow mounted casts in centric relation. Success of occlusal treatment depends on anterior and canine guidances as they protect the posterior teeth. It is important to have absolute harmony between all the three components of masticatory system while doing any dental treatment.

Keywords: Masticatory System; Facebow; Centric Relation; Anterior and Canine Guidances. 

Most supernumerary teeth are located in the anterior maxillary region. They are classified according to their form and location. Their presence may give rise to a variety of clinical problems. Detection of supernumerary teeth is best achieved by thorough clinical and radiographic examination. Their management should form part of a comprehensive treatment plan.

Keywords: Supernumerary Teeth; Supplemental Teeth. 

The bond strength of composite to enamel depends upon the depth the degree of demineralization, the number and length of resin tags and their surface area. Although both dentin and enamel are different in many aspects both equally contribute to the success of composite restoration. This article highlights the differences in bonding mechanism to enamel and dentin and their significance.

Keywords: Enamel; Bonding; Dentin; Hybrid Layer; Resin Tags. 

The use of elastics in orthodontic treatment is not new, for ages orthodontists used different techniques to benefit from the unique physical properties of elastics. Keeping with the new industrial developments, manufacturers developed synthetic elastics with different configurations and superior properties. This review has been conducted to evaluate the available data regarding the different types of elastics used in orthodontics, their forces, benefits and drawbacks.

Keywords: Intra-Oral Elastics; Extra-Oral Elastics; Vertical Elastics; Intramaxillary Elastics; Intermaxillary Elastics. 

Background: Monitoring the confidence of students in completing clinical tasks by dental institutions could serve to assess their preparedness for future independent clinical practice. Aim: To obtain information regarding the confidence level exhibited by clinical dental students in various aspects of restorative dentistry. Study setting and design: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the final year undergraduate dental students and interns of 2 dental colleges in Mangaluru, South Kanara. Materials and methods: Self administered questionnaires were distributed among 293 final year undergraduate dental students and interns.The cohorts were asked to score their level of confidence in 15 aspects of restorative dentistry using Likert’s 5 point scale. Statistical analysis used: The descriptive statistics was calculated using the SPSS version 20.0 and Mann Whitney test was applied to assess the association. The level of statistical significance was kept at p< 0.05. Results:The response rate for the survey was 100%. Interns showed higher confidence levels in almost all aspects of restorative dentistry particularly in diagnosis (p =0.028), pre-operative procedures (p=0.000), manipulation of glass ionomer cement (p=0.043) and dental composite (p=0.000). Final year students and interns were comparably confident in restorative procedures (p=0.111) except for management of inadvertent pulp exposure in which interns showed greater confidence (p=0.003). Both interns and final year students exhibited low confidence in management of complex situations (p=0.217). Conclusion: Interns exhibited high confidence in restorative dentistry when compared to final years. Further training in management of complex situations could be of definite advantage.

Keywords: Confidence Level; Dental Education; Restorative Dentistry.