Knowledge and clinical judgment of Iranian general dentists on vertical root fracture

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study was conducted with the aim to investigate the knowledge and clinical judgment of Iranian general dentists and related factors on the diagnosis and treatment plan of vertical root fracture (VRF). METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed among 300 general dentists who attended in Iranian General Dentists Association (IGDA) congress in 2015. The questionnaire comprised of demographic information and nine closed-end questions on the knowledge on VRFs and different treatment options and seven photographs for clinical judgment evaluation. The answers to all questions were assessed and data were analyzed by chi-square test. RESULTS: 271 individuals (50.7% men and 49.3% women) participated in the study and responded the questions of the questionnaire correctively. Of the subjects, 88.3% and 76.3% had low to moderate clinical judgment and knowledge about vertically fractured teeth, respectively. The correlation between knowledge of participants attending in short endodontic courses was higher than that of those not attended in these courses; the difference between these two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.0005). The correlation between clinical judgment, gender, past clinical activity, attendance in short endodontic courses, and field of clinical interest among participants was not significantly different (P = 0.1900). CONCLUSION: It seems that knowledge and clinical judgment are weak among general dentists requiring serious improvement. Fortunately, short endodontic courses may improve their knowledge of diagnosis and interventions related to teeth undergoing VRF.