A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE ACCURACIES OF RAYPEX 5, RAYPEX 6, IPEX AND IPEX II ELECTRONIC APEX LOCATORS: AN IN VITRO STUDY

Purpose: The aims of this study were to examine the accuracy of iPex II and to compare it with those of Raypex 5, Raypex 6 and iPex electronic apex locators (EALs).Materials and Methods: Thirty fresh human mandibular premolar teeth were used in this study. Crown segments were cut and root canals were coronally flared. A #10 K-file was inserted until its tip can be seen within apical foramen to determine actual working length (AWL). Teeth were embedded in alginate and each multi-frequency EALs were randomly tested to determine the electronic working length (EWL). Differences between AWLs and EWLs were statistically compared.Results: No significant differences were found between four EALs. EWL measurements by Raypex 5 were accurate in 64.29%, Raypex 6 in 53.58%, iPex in 64.29% and iPex II in 50% of the specimens, within the range of ±0.5 mm from the AWL.Conclusion: Within the limitations of this in vitro experiment, our findings indicate that the accuracy of working length measurements calculated with iPex II was similar to those of other multi-frequency EALs used in this study.