Assessment of incidence of apical periodontitis and quality of endodontic therapy in a known population.

Background: One of the common reason for which patients seek dental treatment is toothache. Root canal therapy and tooth extraction are amongst the most commonly administered treatments for pain relief. Hence; we planned the present study to evaluate the incidence of apical periodontitis and endodontic therapy quality in a known population. Materials & methods: The present study included assessment of incidence of apical periodontitis and quality of root canal therapy in a known population. A total of 100 participants were included in the present study. De Moor et al criteria were used for the evaluation of endodontic therapy and peri- apical status. All the results were compiled and analysed by SPSS software. Chi- square test and student t test were used for the assessment of level of significance. Results: 5 percent of the root canal treated cases showed presence of apical periodontitis whereas in 56 percent of the cases, no apical periodontitis was detected. 70 percent of the cases of teeth treated with root canal therapy with less than 2 mm from radiographic apex showed presence of apical periodontitis. Conclusion: Prevalence of apical periodontitis is dependent up on the technical quality of root canal therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]