SynthesisBMC oral health2024
Efficacy of electronic apex locators in comparison with intraoral radiographs in working length determination- a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC oral health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evaluation of the Accuracy of Electronic Apex Locators in Modern Endodontics: An Umbrella Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluation of postoperative pain associated with different working length determination methods: a randomised clinical study.BMC oral health · 2026Trial
- Effect of working length determination on postoperative pain using Electronic Apex Locator versus Radiographic method: a systematic review of randomized control trials.The Saudi dental journal · 2026Review
- Accuracy of Apex Locator Integrated Endomotors in Estimating Working Length in the Presence of Endodontic Irrigants: An Ex Vivo Study.Australian endodontic journal : the journal of the Australian Society of Endodontology Inc · 2025Article
- Artificial Intelligence in Endodontic Education: A Systematic Review with Frequentist and Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Student-Based Evidence.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- Effect of working length determination methods on postoperative pain after root canal treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Review
- Tactile Method for Orthograde Exploration of the Apical Foramen in Non-vital Permanent Teeth with Open Apices: Case Series.European endodontic journal · 2025Article
- Factors Reducing Postoperative Pain Related to Root Canal Treatment: A Narrative Review of Systematic Reviews.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSuccessful endodontic treatment needs accurate determination of working length (WL). Electronic apex locators (EALs) were presented as an alternative to radiographic methods; and since then, they have evolved and gained popularity in the determination of WL. However, there is insufficient evidence on the post-operative pain, adequacy, and accuracy of EALs in determining WL.
objectiveThe systematic review and meta-analysis aims to gather evidence regarding the effectiveness of EALs for WL determination when compared to different imaging techniques along with postoperative pain associated with WL determination, the number of radiographs taken during the procedure, the time taken, and the adverse effects.
methodsFor the review, clinical studies with cross-over and parallel-arm randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched in seven electronic databases, followed by cross-referencing of the selected studies and related research synthesis. Risk of bias (RoB) assessment was carried out with Cochrane's RoB tool and a random-effects model was used. The meta-analysis was performed with the RevMan software 5.4.1.
resultsEleven eligible RCTs were incorporated into the review and eight RCTs into the meta-analysis, of which five had high RoB and the remaining six had unclear RoB. Following meta-analysis, no significant difference in postoperative pain was found among the EAL and radiograph groups (SMD 0.00, CI .29 to .28, 354 participants; P value = 0.98). Radiograph group showed better WL accuracy (SMD 0.55, CI .11 to .99, 254 participants; P value = 0.02), while the EAL group had 10% better WL adequacy (RR 1.10, CI 1.03-1.18, 573 participants; P value = 0.006).
conclusionWe found very low-certainty evidence to support the efficacy of different types of EAL compared to radiography for the outcomes tested. We were unable to reach any conclusions about the superiority of any type of EAL. Well-planned RCTs need to be conducted by standardizing the outcomes and outcome measurement methods.
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