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In Taiwan, there are very few dental radiology curricula in medical radiation education system. This study assessed the participants' learning outcomes after finishing the dental radiology course for the continuing education of medical radiation technologists in Taiwan. This study used the questionnaire survey to evaluate the participants' learning outcomes after finishing the dental radiology course for the continuing education of medical radiation technologists in Taiwan. In this study, 85 participants filled out the questionnaires completely after finishing the dental radiology course. The majority of participants agreed that dental radiology courses were rare in the medical radiation school curricula and the continuing education courses of medical radiation technologists. Moreover, most of participants found this course to be helpful in raising their basic knowledge about the dental radiology, their attitude towards the dental radiology, and their interest in further learning of the dental radiology. They were satisfied with the courses. The degree of agreement for each question was high with all the mean scores for each question being between 3.87 and 4.61. The numbers (rates) of respondents who answered as agree were between 58 (68.24%) and 84 (98.82%). The dental radiology course for the continuing education of medical radiation technologists is found to increase the participants' basic knowledge about the dental radiology, and their awareness and understanding of the radiation protection in dental radiography. Thus, this model can be further used for the dental radiology course for the continuing education of medical radiation technologists in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) can provide valuable data for root canal systems of human teeth in vivo. This study used CBCT to evaluate the number of roots and canals of 300 mandibular first premolars in 150 northern Taiwanese patients. Methods: The root canal systems of 300 mandibular first premolars in 150 northern Taiwanese patients with bilateral premolars were analyzed by CBCT. Results: Of the 300 mandibular first premolars, 197 (65.7%) had one root with one canal (1R1C), 49 (16.3%) had one root with two canals (1R2C), 51 (17.0%) had two roots with one canal in each root (2R2C), and three (1.0%) had three roots with one canal in each root (3R3C). Statistical analyses showed that women had a significantly higher incidence of 1R1C mandibular first premolars (71.4%) than men (58.8%, p = 0.031), and men had a significantly higher incidence of 2R2C mandibular first premolars (27.2%) than women (8.5%, p < 0.001). One hundred and twenty-two (81.3%) of the 150 patients had a symmetrical root and root canal system between the right and left mandibular first premolars. Men had a significantly higher symmetrical rate of 2R2C mandibular first premolars (26.5%) than women (8.2%, p = 0.013). Conclusion: Approximately 82% of mandibular first premolars in northern Taiwanese patients have one root with either one or two canals. There are significant differences in the number of roots and canals and symmetry of the root canal system of bilateral mandibular first premolars between male and female northern Taiwanese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]