An effective artificial testing model to reliability experiments for electronic apex locator devices used in endodontic practice

Background and Aim: This experimental study aimed to investigate the reliability of using electronic apex locator devices to determine the working length of artificial root canals. Materials and Methods: The experiments were performed using resin endoblocks and mandibular canine teeth (n = 20/group). After the same working length of root canal samples was provided, the teeth and artificial root canals were embedded in an alginate mold. The measurements with Root ZX® and Propex Pixi® apex locators were performed and recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (SPSS V23; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA) and the variance was set at P < 0.05. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups; mean distance from the actual working length using different apex locators (P = 0.633, P = 0.474), and endpoint positioning distributions (P = 0.591). Conclusion: The results indicate that the artificial model could be a laboratory method of determining the accuracy of apex locators and efficient calibration of devices before their clinical use.