From Concept to Creation: A Vision Forty Years On

FIGURE 6--The ProTaper Universal files link concept with computer modeled design configurations that provide for an efficient and effective means of shaping the root canal space.

The Five Ages of Man are said to be the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Brazen Age, the Heroic Age, and the Iron Age. Endodontics has passed through many ages as the discipline transitions to increasingly predictable clinical success. Within the Pantheon of gods and gurus, one stands alone as a beacon of the … Read more

Endodontic Principles That Govern

I would rather not give you another ‘how to’ article or another preaching ‘sermon’ telling you how to practice but would rather teach correct principles that govern endodontic success and allow you to govern yourself. A correct principle can and should apply to each endodontic system and not to just what I use in my … Read more

Bacteria: The Evil of All Root

Steven Cohen

Picture this: A small town in the Wild West Frontier. The street is deserted, it’s high noon, and the sun is beating down on this dust bowl of a town. Two gunfighters square off for a showdown, each at one end of the main street. At one end is the lawman, wearing the white hat, … Read more

Creating Excellent Endodontic Results: A Case History

FIGURE 1

We can learn more from our clinical failures than our successes. If we will allow it, the cases that have less success can be great teachers if we are open to their lessons. Such is a case pictured in Figure 1. What went wrong? How could this have been avoided? While the radiograph is in … Read more

Fine Tuning in Canal Negotiation: A Paradigm of Excellence (PART I)

1000201349-1000282949 alternate text for this image

Recently I received e-mail from a reader asking me to comment on negotiation of canals with hand files. I had mentioned in a previous column that, all things being equal, small K files should be “precurved and placed into the given canal third” prior to the use of rotary nickel titanium files (RNT). The reader … Read more

Endodontic Access Through a Crown: Clinical Considerations

1000200458-1000283151 alternate text for this image

Making endodontic access through a crown and repairing the access opening in lieu of making a new crown is problematic. In my empirical opinion and experience, the vast majority of crowns that I have accessed, either for first time treatment and/or retreatment, using the LA Axxess kit (SybronEndo, Orange, CA), have shown some measure of … Read more

Is It Essential To Pre-curve K Files Before Use?

1000199652-1000285115 alternate text for this image

In a word, yes! K files are indeed essential to pre-curve prior to use. First off, canal systems are never straight, no matter how the radiograph may appear. No line in nature is straight and canals contain a dimension of curvature from buccal to lingual as well as mesial to distal. Said differently, if a … Read more

Negotiating Curvatures: Rounding the Bend

FIGURE 5

Negotiation of curved canals in endodontic treatment might be thought of as a series of very small steps that collectively produce the desired endodontic result. Said differently, to obturate a curved canal with an ideal shape requires patience and the achievement of many minor objectives to arrive at the desired end point. This article will … Read more

The tooth needs a root canal, should I treat this patient? PART III OF III

1000197760-1000278915 alternate text for this image

This column will continue a discussion initiated in Part I (June ’05) and II (Aug. ’05) of this three part column, which addressed the factors that go into creating better communication and trust between doctors and patients with a simultaneous eye toward helping doctors avoid unnecessary patient management problems. Specific factors that can help identify … Read more

The tooth needs a root canal, should I treat this patient? PART II OF III

1000196699-1000276348 alternate text for this image

This column will continue a discussion initiated in Part I of this three part series, which addressed the factors that go into creating better communication and trust between doctors and patients with a simultaneous eye toward helping doctors avoid unnecessary patient management problems. Specific factors, which can help identify problematic situations, are detailed that will … Read more

The tooth needs a root canal, should I treat this patient? PART I OF III

1000195822-1000277834 alternate text for this image

Did you ever start an endodontic procedure and later wish you hadn’t? If you are like most clinicians, the answer is yes. The source of this answer is either a clinical challenge or patient management issue that arose unexpectedly after starting. The prospect of having a root canal can provoke anxiety in some patients, despite … Read more

Endodontic Monobloc: Case Closed

FIGURE 30--The final restoration after polishing and sealing.

Numerous studies on endodontic treatment outcomes demonstrate a significant degree of predictable clinical success,1,2 however, cross-sectional, retrospective population studies have demonstrated “post-treatment disease” in 30 to 50 percent of cases.3 While recent studies have introduced significant predictors of outcome which may impact upon future treatment protocols, at present, continued sophistication of contemporary clinical treatments (debridement, … Read more

Sequence of Irrigation in Endodontics

FIGURE 4--A retreatment of two lower premolars.

ABSTRACT Irrigation has an important role during endodontic treatment. We are proposing a sequence for the different irrigating agents in order to achieve the best chemical preparation possible. During the last several years endodontics has progressed to the point for treatment to be less traumatic for the patient and less stressful for the dentist. However, … Read more

Endodontic Junkyard Dog

Dr. Gary Glassman is a fellow and examiner for the Royal College of Dentists of Canada, is the endodontic contributing consultant for Oral Health Journal and maintains a private practice limited to endodontics in Toronto, ON, Canada.

At a recent endodontic study club meeting, we had the opportunity to discuss what endodontists often chat about. Included in the discussion were levels of busyness, new techniques and technologies being used, and the different types of procedures that we are seeing in our day-to-day practices. Before long, it became obvious that the pattern of … Read more