• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.390-398
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the apical fitness of non-standardized gutta-percha cones in root canals prepared with rotary Ni-Ti root canal instruments of various tapers and apical tip sizes. Simulated sixty curved root canals of plastic blocks were prepared with crown-down technique using rotary root canal instruments of Maillefer ProFile$^{(R)}$ .04 and .06 taper (Maillefer Instrument SA, Switzerland). Specimens were divided into six groups and prepared as follows: Group 1, prepared up to size 25 of .04 taper ; Group 2, prepared up to size 30 of .04 taper ; Group 3, prepared up to size 35 of .04 taper ; Group 4, prepared up to size 25 of .06 taper ; Group 5, prepared up to size 30 of .06 taper ; Group 6 ; prepared up to size 35 of .06 taper. After cutting off the coronal portion of plastic, blocks perpendicular to the long axis of the canal with the use of a diamond saw, apical 5mm of canal space was analyzed. Prepared apical canal spaces were duplicated using rubber base impression material to evaluate two dimensional total area of apical canal space. Various sized gutta-percha cones were applied in the 5mm-apical canal space, which were size 25, size 30 and size 35 standardized gutta-percha cone, Diadent Dia-Pro ISO-.04$^{TM}$ and .06$^{TM}$(Diadent, Korea), and medium-fine (MF), fine (F), fine-medium (FM) and medium (M) sized non-standardized gutta-percha cones (Diadent, Korea). Coronal excess gutta-percha were cut off with a sharp blade. Photographs of impressed apical canal spaces and gutta-percha cones were taken with a CCD camera under a stereomicroscope and stored in a computer. Areas of the total canal space and gutta-percha cones were calculated using a digitalized image analysing program, CompuScope (Sungjin Multimedia Co., Korea). Ratio of apical fitness was obtained by calculating the area of gutta-percha cone to the total area of the canal space. The data were analysed statistically using One-way Analysis of Variance and Duncan's Multiple Range Test. The results were as follows: 1. In canals prepared up to size 25 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .04 taper, non-standardized MF and F cones occupied significantly more canal space than Dia-Pro ISO-.04$^{TM}$ or size 25 standardized ones (p<0.05). 2. In canals prepared up to size 30 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .04 taper, non-standardized F cones occupied significantly more canal space than Dia-Pro ISO-.04$^{TM}$ or size 30 standardized ones (p<0.05), and non-standardized MF cones occupied more canal space than size 30 standardized ones (p<0.05). 3. In canals prepared up to size 35 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .04 taper, there was no significant difference in canal space occupation among non-standardized MF and F, size 35 standardized, and Dia-Pro ISO-.04$^{TM}$ cones (p>0.05). 4. In canals prepared up to size 25 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .06 taper, non-standardized MF and F cones occupied significantly more canal space than Dia-Pro ISO-.06$^{TM}$, or size 25 standardized ones (p<0.05), and Dia-Pro ISO-.06$^{TM}$, cones occupied significantly more space than size 25 standardized ones (p<0.05). 5. In canals prepared up to size 30 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .06 taper, non-standardized FM cones occupied significantly more canal space than Dia-Pro ISO-.06$^{TM}$ or size 30 standardized ones (p<0.05), and non-standardized F cones occupied significantly more canal space than size 30 standardized ones (p<0.05). 6. In canals prepared up to size 35 ProFile$^{(R)}$ of .06 taper, non-standardized M and FM, Dia-Pro ISO-.06$^{TM}$ occupied significantly more canal space than size 35 standardized ones (p<0.05). In summary, in both canals prepared with .04 or .06 taper ProFile$^{(R)}$, non-standardized cones showed better fitness than Dia-Pro ISO$^{TM}$ or standardized ones, which was more characteristic in smaller canals.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1-34
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• 2010

Introduction The purpose of this research is to develop overall model which involves the effect of ongoing support services by franchisor on franchisee's relationship quality(trust, satisfaction, and commitment) and business performance(financial and non-financial performance), and to investigate the relationships among trust, satisfaction, commitment, financial and non-financial performance. This study also suggests franchise business or franchise system should be based on long-term orientation between franchisor and franchisee rather than short-term orientation, or transactional relationship, and proposes the most effective way of providing on-going support services by franchisor with franchisee thru symbiotic relationship among franchisor and franchisee Research Model and Hypothesis The research model as Figure 1 shows the variables on-going support services which affect the relationship quality between franchisor and franchisee such as trust, satisfaction, and commitment, and also analyze the effects of relationship quality on business performance including financial and non-financial performance We established 12 hypotheses to test as follows; Relationship between on-going support services and trust H1: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's trust. Relationship between on-going support services and satisfaction H2: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. Relationship between on-going support services and commitment H3: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship among relationship quality: trust, satisfaction, and commitment H4: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. H5: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. H6: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship between relationship quality and business performance H7: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H8: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H9: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H10: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H11: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H12: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. Method The on-going support services were defined as an organized system of continuous supporting services by franchisor for the purpose of satisfying the expectation of franchisee based on long-term orientation and classified into six constructs such as product category & price, logistics service, promotion, providing information & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support. The six constructs were measured agreement using a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree)as follows. The product category & price was measured by four items: menu variety, price of food material provided by franchisor, and support for developing new menu. The logistics service was measured by six items: distribution system of franchisor, return policy for provided food materials, timeliness, inventory control level of franchisor, accuracy of order, and flexibility of emergency order. The promotion was measured by five items: differentiated promotion activities, brand image of franchisor, promotion effect such as customer increase, long-term plan of promotion, and micro-marketing concept in promotion. The providing information & problem solving capability was measured by information providing of new products, information of competitors, information of cost reduction, and efforts for solving problems in franchisee's operations. The supervisor's support was measured by supervisor operations, frequency of visiting franchisee, support by data analysis, processing the suggestions by franchisee, diagnosis and solutions for the franchisee's operations, and support for increasing sales in franchisee. Finally, the of education & training support was measured by recipe training by specialist, service training for store people, systemized training program, and tax & human resources support services. Analysis and results The data were analyzed using Amos. Figure 2 and Table 1 present the result of the structural equation model. Implications The results of this research are as follows: Firstly, the factors of product category, information providing and problem solving capacity influence only franchisee's satisfaction and commitment. Secondly, logistic services and supervising factors influence only trust and satisfaction. Thirdly, continuing education and training factors influence only franchisee's trust and commitment. Fourthly, sales promotion factor influences all the relationship quality representing trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Fifthly, regarding relationship among relationship quality, trust positively influences satisfaction, however, does not directly influence commitment, but satisfaction positively affects commitment. Therefore, satisfaction plays a mediating role between trust and commitment. Sixthly, trust positively influence only financial performance, and satisfaction and commitment influence positively both financial and non-financial performance.