USE OF ENDOSCOPY IN THE SUBGINGIVAL INSTRUMENTATION TRAINING OF DENTAL HYGIENE STUDENTS

Aim: the difficult access to the submarginal area is one of the main limitations for an effective non-surgical periodontal therapy. The periodontal endoscope represents an innovative opportunity for a direct visualization of this area. Its use offers a self-assessment by the clinician, who can potentially improve the technical ability. This pilot study aimed to evaluate if an endoscopic self-assessment could boost the instrumentation quality of dental hygiene students. Methods: study and control group were both formed by a “trained operator”, attending the third and final year of course, and an “untrained operator”, attending the second year. Participants worked with standardized ultrasonic tip (model, power, irrigation) on commercial jaw models with periodontal disease (Typodont®). Elements #41 and #47 with submarginal standardized root deposits were treated and examined. Only for the study group, the initial instrumentation (T0) was followed by a self-assessment through periodontal endoscope (DV2 DentalView®). A second instrumentation (T1) was then performed. At the end of both instrumentations, the submarginal residual deposits were analyzed by means of a specific software (ImageJ®). The effect of group, operator and tooth on root deposits were statistically evaluated. Results: the amount of residual deposits decreased between T0 and T1 for all study group members (mean -8,58%). Tooth #41 showed a stronger decrease than #47 (p = 0.01). Increase of instrumentation effectiveness of the most apical areas was significantly associated to the endoscopic self-assessment (p = 0.04). Conclusions: the use of a periodontal endoscope during nonsurgical periodontal training seams to enhance the students’ performance. Further analyses are strongly required.