Simulated acrylic deciduous teeth with pulp space– a novel educational tool to study the efficiency of endodontic procedures

Introduction: Since decades, studies on pulpal space of deciduous teeth for anatomic and endodontic purposes has yielded limited results. Deciduous teeth having good canal system is scant and practically unavailable for students to practise the procedure. One of the reasons being that it cannot be extracted for any purpose except otherwise indicated, hence there is a need for simulated deciduous teeth. Aim: To check the competence of custom made simulated deciduous teeth with pulpal space by comparison of endodontic preparation and obturation to that of natural deciduous teeth. Hence in this study we generated 3D outer anatomy of the tooth with inner pulp space so that one can proceed with training and evaluating the endodontic efficiency. Methods: A total of 10 canals in each group; custom made simulated deciduous teeth and natural deciduous teeth were used in the study. Access cavity was prepared and BMP upto size 35 K file with frequent irrigation using hot water was done. Later all teeth were obturated with Zinc oxide Eugenol. The pre and post operative radiographs were taken and radiographs were assessed using Image J software for each group. The data was statistically analysed using unpaired t test. Results: Simulated model provided more favorable results in terms of root length and percentage of obturated area was 97.42 more than the natural deciduous teeth with mean POA to be 83.77 percent, the result was statistically significant (P Value< 0.001). Conclusion: The study shows that simulated tooth model is an effective tool for training and visualization of 3D obturation in deciduous teeth.