Practices and preferences in the use of magnification among endodontists and restorative dentists: A multicentre study

• Published in: PloS one 2025-01, Vol.20 (1), p.e0311391
• Main Authors: Iqbal, Azhar, Karobari, Mohmed Isaqali, Shrivastava, Deepti, Srivastava, Kumar Chandan, Arjumand, Bilal, Algarni, Hmoud Ali, Alonazi, Meshal Aber, Alnasser, Muhsen, Khattak, Osama, Syed, Jamaluddin, Attia, Reham Mohmad, Rashed, Asma Abubakar, Sultan, Sherif El Sayed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Biology and Life Sciences; Canals; Canals (anatomy); Clinical medicine; Consent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data analysis; Dental materials; Dentistry; Dentists; Dentists - psychology; Devices; Endodontics; Endodontists; Engineering and Technology; Equipment and supplies; Ergonomics; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Informed consent; Islands; Likert scale; Literature reviews; Magnification; Magnification (Optics); Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Perception; Perceptions; Pilot projects; Practice Patterns, Dentists' - statistics & numerical data; Public opinion; Public sector; Questionnaires; Research and Analysis Methods; Sampling methods; Sampling techniques; Social Sciences; Surveys and Questionnaires; Technology, Dental
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311391

Aim of the current study was to assess the perception, preference, and practice of endodontists and restorative dentists at different locations around the world about dental magnification instruments. A multicenter, cross-sectional study was ethically approved from the local committee of bioethics. After thorough literature search, a questionnaire was designed and validated. Later, the questionnaire was distributed to 10% (53 participants) of the total planned participants to conduct a pilot study. Based on the feedback from these participants, any ambiguities or discrepancies observed in the items and content of the questionnaire was modified. The questionnaire was assessed for its internal consistency as part of validating the items with Cronbach's alpha of 0.80. The completed questionnaire with an informed consent form for the participant was administered to the endodontists and restorative dentists in three different geographical regions namely MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa), British-Isles, and Indian Sub-continent using WhatsApp through the snowball convenience sampling technique. Majority of the participants were male (56.5%) and in the age group of 25-35 years (30.3%). About 68.9% were from Indian sub-continent, followed by the British-Isles (16.5%) and the least (14.6%) were from the MENA region. By large, the participants of the present study, strongly agreed that dental magnification devices improved ergonomics, quality of work, and should be considered as standard of care in modern endodontic. Flip-up magnifiers (51.1%) and medium (8x-16x) magnification were preferred by majority of the participants. About 46.3% of specialist reported that they always used devices for all operative and endodontic procedures, especially while locating hidden and canals and negotiating calcified canals. Participants practicing in British-Isles have 2.42 times (P