Endodontics Flashcards
What guidelines are used for RCT quality assurance?
European Society of Endodontology’s Quality Guidelines.
When should a patient be reviewed after RCT?
- CLINICAL and RADIOGRAPHIC follow up at least 1 year after treatment.
- Further follow up for up to 4 years.
4 indications for root canal retreatment?
- Persistent periapical pathology following root canal treatment (persistent symptoms, sinus tract, swelling, pain).
- New periapical pathology associated with a root-filled tooth.
- A new restoration is planned for a tooth and radiographic assessment shows an inadequate root canal filling and/or a periapical radiolucency.
- Failure of previous treatment (ex. due to technical errors, signs of inflammation/ infection).
What were the Ng studies? What did the find (%)?
- Systematic review of 17 studies, 1961 - 2005.
- Secondary RCT has a 77% SUCCESS RATE.
3 prognostic factors of retreatment according to Ng study?
o Pre-operative periapical lesion.
o Apical extent of root canal filling.
o Quality of coronal restoration.
Healed?
- Clinically: no signs/symptoms.
- Radiological: No residual radiolucency or scarring after surgery.
Healing?
- Clinically: no signs or symptoms.
- Radiological: reduced radiolucency in follow up <4 years.
Asymptomatic function?
- Clinically: no signs or symptoms.
- Radiological: no or persistent radiolucency, reduced in size or unchanged.
Persistent/ recurrent/ emerged disease?
- Clinically: with or without symptoms.
- Radiological: new, increased, unchanged or reduced after >4 years.
Prevention of post treatment disease (6)?
- Rubber dam isolation.
- Proximity of preparation to the constriction.
- Sufficient taper of preparation.
- Adequate irrigation and placement of inter appointment medicament.
- Correct extension of root canal obturation without extrusion.
- Adequate coronal seal to prevent re-infection.
Persistent periapical pathology following root canal treatment?
no radiographic signs of bony healing after 4 years.
new periapical pathology associated with a root filled tooth
- Initial healing but a new radiolucency develops some time later.
- Root canal system has become infected (by coronal leakage) subsequent to previous treatment.
Toronto study?
- Friedman.
- Primary treatment –> 81 success.
- Retreatment –> no PA 89-100%, PA 56-84%.
Treatment outcomes - Ng et al 2011
Success based on periapical health:
- Primary RCT 83%.
- Secondary/ Retreatment RCT 80%.
5 microbial causes of post-treatment disease?
- Intraradicular microbes.
- Extraradicular infection (microbes have invaded host defense mechanism and established themselves in periapical tissues).
- True/ Radicular cyst (cavity which has walled itself off from the root canal system).
- Cracked teeth, vertical root fracture.
- Coronal leakage
Intraradicular microbes as a microbial cause of post-treatment disease (2)?
Intraradicular infections, either:
- Persistent: microbes were not removed during initial treatment.
- Secondary: microbes entered root canal system via coronal leakage.
2 non microbial causes of post-treatment
- Foreign body reactions in periapical tissues (to extrusion of RCT material).
- Cholesterol crystals
2 types of intraradicular infections in root canal treated teeth?
- Persisting infection: inadequate isolation/ disinfection during treatment.
- New secondary infection through leakage.
What is a shortcoming of radiographs for assessing root canal treatments?
Radiographs do not indicate the BIOLOGICAL STATUS of the root canal.
What are radiographically poor root canal fillings often associated with?
Periapical radiolucencies.
What is a shortcoming of rotary files?
- Instrumentation can be done very quickly HOWEVER must ensure ADEQUATE DISINFECTION has occurred.
Define persistent bacteria?
Bacteria that remain in the root canal system after root canal disinfection and interappointment dressing.
What bacterial type is more likely to be persistent bacteria?
GRAM POSITIVE bacteria appear to be more resistant to antimicrobial treatment.
- Ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions in instrumented and medicated root canals.
Do persistent bacteria always cause infection?
DO NOT always maintain an infectious process.
- residual bacteria may die after obturation.
- Residual bacteria may be present in insufficient numbers and virulence.
- They may be located in areas where they have to access to periapical tissues and thus nutrients.
How many bacterial species are expected in well-treated canals?
1-5 species.
How many bacterial species are expected in canals with inadequate treatment?
10-20 species, similar to untreated canals.
6 pathogens likely to be found in re-treated root canals?
- 9 times more likely to harbor E facaelis.
- Candida albicans in 18%.
- Streptococcus
- lactobacillus
- actinomyces
- propionibacterium
How is an apical abscess formed?
- In most cases apical periodontitis inflammatory lesions succeed in preventing microorganisms from invading the periapical tissues.
- Occasionally they can overcome this defence barrier and establish an extraradicular infection (ex. acute apical abscess).
2 things extraradicular bacterial colonies can do?
- Can form biofilms on the external root surface.
- Can exist inside periapical granulomas (actinomyces, propionibacterium proprionicum).
2 types of bacteria that may exist in periapical granulomas?
- Actinomyces.
- Propionibacterium propionicum.
What forms radicular cysts?
- Most common odontogenic cyst of INFLAMMATORY origin.
- Arises from EPITHELIAL CELL RESTS in PDL.
What is a true cyst?
- Lesion enclosed by epithelial lining.
- NO communication between cyst lumen and root canal system.
- Therefore will not heal after RCT and may thus require surgical intervention.
What is a pocket cyst?
- Epethilial sac lumen communicates with root canal system.
- Therefore will normally heal following RCT.
What did Heling et al find in their study ‘endodontic failure caused by inadequate restorative procedures: review and treatment recommendations’
- Prognosis can be improved by sealing the canal and minimizing leakage of oral fluids and bacteria.
- Place definitive restoration as soon after root canal treatment as possible.
What has a clear correlation to periapical health?
Studies show a CLEAR CORRELATION between the TECHNICAL QUALITY OF ROOT CANAL FILLINGS apparent on RADIOGRAPHS and periapical health.
- Quality of coronal restoration also impacts success rate.
How our cholesterol crystals formed? How do they appear on histopathological slides?
- From DYING CELLS during chronic inflammation.
- Show as CLEFTS on histopathological slides.
4 materials that can cause a foreign body reaction?
- Gutta percha.
- Sealers.
- Paper points.
- Cotton pellets.
Why do paper points and cotton pellets cause foreign body reaction?
contain CELLULOSE and body does not have ability to break it down.
4 treatment options after assessing a tooth that require retreatment?
- Do nothing.
- Extract.
- Retreatment.
- Surgical retreatment.
10 things to things to check in radiographs/ CBCT?
- Caries
- Defective restorations
- Periodontal health
- Quality of obturation
- Existence of missed canals or procedural errors
- Periapical pathology
- Perforations
- Fractures
- Resorptions
- Canal anatomy
Sensitivity of DPT vs PA vs CBCT?
- DPT 0.28.
- PA 0.55
- CBCT 1
6 questions to consider when planning retreatment?
- is it a strategic tooth?
- How much remaining coronal tooth structure?
- what is the periodontal support?
- Is periapical disease present?
- Are there aesthetics issues?
- Are there technical difficulties as shown radiographically?
Steps to retreating teeth with DIRECT restorations?
- Remove any existing caries.
- Reduce any unsupported cusps.
- Ensure sufficient remaining tooth structure to place definitive restoration.
- Ensure tooth can be isolated under rubber dam.
2 ways to ensure a tooth can be isolated under rubber dam?
- Orthodontic band/ GI.
- Electrocautery, crown lengthening procedures.
Considerations when retreating a tooth with an INDIRECT restoration?
- Assess quality of restoration
- Integrity of coronal seal, no recurrent caries or marginal deficiencies then retreat THROUGH indirect restoration.
What did Iqbal find in his study ‘factors associated with the periapical status of restored, endodontically treated teeth’?
Crown margins of poor quality affected adversely the overall periapical status of root filled teeth.
2 reasons why accessing through a crown causes a higher risk of perforation?
- Visibility reduced.
- Tooth alignment may be altered by the crown.
2 occasions when we remove crowns prior to retreatment?
- When the crown is defective/ caries.
- If any potential difficulties are noted through the pre-treatment radiograph.
3 pros of removing crowns prior to retreatment?
- Allows assessment of remaining tooth structure.
- Visibility and access to root canals improved.
- Avoids risk of perforation when searching for canals – especially if tooth alignment has been altered by the crown or in older patients where pulp chamber depth is small.
What teeth are often rotated and artificially corrected with crowns?
Upper premolars
3 steps to sectioning a crown?
- Take a sectional impression in putty.
- Section the crown into 2 halves taking care not to cut through the core.
- Remove the two parts with an EXCAVATOR.
What bur is used to cut through a porcelain crown?
diamond bur.
What bur is used to cut through a metal crown?
tungsten carbide.
How to use a WAMKEY?
- cut an oval shaped cavity in buccal wall of the crown in a depth slightly beyond midway into the occlusal surface of the tooth.
- Insert WAMKEY and ROTATE it.
- Works well if crown has not been cemented with an ADHESIVE cement.
What are WAMKEYS used for?
Crown removal.
Downside of crown tapper?
Works really well in deficient margins.
Difficult to use if margins are intact.
Name 2 crown removers?
- Crown tapper.
- KaVo coronaflex.
What must the patient always be warned of when a post is to be removed?
ALWAYS ADVISE RISK OF ROOT FRACTURE!!!!!!!!
What must you do prior to attempting to remove a post?
Assess post type and length/ width on a pre-treatment radiograph.
- Parallel/ tapered, active/passive, metal/quartz fibre.
2 main techniques for post removal?
- Ultrasonic energy.
- Post pulling devices.
What is an important consideration when using ultrasonics to remove a post?
ALWAYS BLOW AIR/ WATER COOLANT.
- Ultrasonic tip generates a lot of heat, which can be transmitted through the core and post into the periapical tissues and cause BONY NECROSIS.
What are the ultrasonics used for removal of posts called? What is their shape?
- Piezoelectric ultrasonics (vibrations 30-40 kHz).
- Tips for post removal have a blunt end.
2 reasons why screw type active posts are no longer used?
- Wedging forces in root can result in root fracture.
- Do not provide a good seal within the root canal system.
3 steps to removing screw type active posts?
- Remove core material from around post using high speed burs and ultrasonics.
- Ultrasonics can help break up cement (and post may then unscrew).
- Use WRENCH supplied by manufacturer.
Removing CAST post and core (3)
- Usually involves removal of coronal restoration
- May require cut back of core using tungsten carbide bur prior to using ultrasonics.
- If post is extremely well fitting removal can be very difficult especially in oval shaped canals.
Which post pulling device is useful when a fractured post is present in the canal?
Massarann kit.
4 examples of post pulling devices?
- Egglers post pulling device.
- Ivory miniature post puller.
- Ruddle post pulling kit.
- Massarann kit.
Downfall of all post pulling devices?
Require post to be loose.
What type of cement should be used when cementing posts?
DO NOT use ADHESIVE RESIN CEMENTS routinely to cement posts as it makes them difficult to remove.
- Do not use routinely with metal posts unless compromised retention.
- May lead to periapical surgery or XLA.
What can be used to remove Quartz fibre posts?
RTD fibre post removal kit.
1. Pin drill puts pilot hole into the quartz fibre post.
2. Second creates a CHANNEL through the post.
3. Pizzo size 2 used to remove remaining quartz fibre.
Important consideration about thermafill carrier based system?
Obturator has central plastic sprue covered in gutta pecha which can be very challenging to remove.
4 different types of root canal filling materials?
- Gutta percha.
- Carrier based systems (thermafil, guttacore).
- Silver points.
- Endodontic pastes.
Name an example of endodontic pastes?
Resorcinol.
4 techniques to remove gutta percha?
- Rotary endodontic files (protaper D, PTG endo instruments).
- Ultrasonics (used to remove extra gutta percha from pulp chamber in retreatment cases)
- Heat (to remove gutta percha in post and core preparation).
- Solvents (adjunct when carrying out retreatment as they can help soften the gutta percha).
What would you ideally use during retreatment cases?
Root canal retreatments ideally require the use of magnification to ensure all material has been removed from the root canal system.
2 downsides of rotary protaper retreatment files?
- Not very flexible.
- D1 has partially cutting tip, thus easy to cause LEDGES and PERFORATIONS.
5 steps to retreatment using PTG to remove GP?
- Measure estimated WL from radiograph.
- Depending on canal diameter select either F2 or F3 finishing file, length 21mm (shorter file is less flexible, rigidity needed to cut through GP).
- Set rpm to 600.
- Use in coronal 2/3rds of canal, work from F3 - F2 - F1 if required.
- Then go down in 1mm increments checking with EAL until WL and patency have been achieved.
What to do in retreatment cases if the apical part of the canal is underprepared/ not obturated?
If apical part is underprepared/ not obturated:
1. Negotiate with size 10 file.
2. Establish WL/ patency.
3. Complete preparation using normal PTG sequence at 300 rpm (S1, S2 etc).
What is a more traditional technique of removing gutta percha for retreatment?
Hedstrom files and solvent.
In which canals do hedstrom files and solvent work well (2)? In which not?
Bad
- NOT effective in NARROW, CURVED canals (files made from SS therefore less flexible).
Good
- SINGLE CONE obturation.
- POORLY COMPACTED GP.
How are Hedstrom files used to remove GP?
- Engage the loose GP with the Hedstrom file, rotate and pull to remove.
- Do not engage the canal wall (can cause ledging).
In what cases should solvents to remove GP NOT be used.
- Never use solvents to remove GP when preparing a tooth for a POST SPACE.
- No control how far the solvent will permeate into the root canal system, could compromise apical seal.
5 types of solvents.
- Chloroform (no longer used).
- Turpentine
- DMS IV (eugenol).
- Endosolv R (resin).
- Endosolv E (eugenol).
Is solvent necessary?
No definitive answer as to whether a solvent is essential for retreatment with rotary NiTi instruments.
Use of ultrasonics to remove GP (2)?
- Useful to remove GP from the pulp chamber and entrance into the canals.
- Fine tips can be used to remove remaining tags of GP (using magnification).
Heat to remove GP (3)?
- Softens and removes GP.
- Useful when removing CORONAL GP for post placement.
- Remaining GP will be soft and requires vertical compaction.
What is thermafil? What is a downside?
- Carrier based gutta percha.
- Plastic carrier covered in GP.
- Plastic sprue is difficult to remove especially in underpreppared canals.
How can thermafil be removed (2)?
- Hedstrom files and solvent.
- Protaper D files.
- Care must be taken as very easy to deflect and perforate.
What is guttacore?
- Carrier-based gutta percha.
- Carrier is made from cross-linked GP. This allows for easier removal in retreatment cases.
2 downsides of silverpoints?
- Fail to adhere to sound biological principles.
- When microleakage occurs, the cement fails and the cone corrodes.
How are silver points removed (2)
- Care not to cut coronal end.
- Remove with Stieglitz forceps.
- Gently trough around with fine ultrasonic tip.
3 downsides of endodontic pastes?
- Shrinkage.
- Poor seal
- Made from toxic materials (mutogenic, carcinogenic).
3 ingredients in endodontic pastes?
- Paraformaldehyde: mutagenic, carcinogenic, neurotoxic.
- Endomethasone.
- Resorcinol-formalin (red russian: sets very hard, not radiopaque, very difficult to remove, tooth often discolored pinky-red.
What serious complication endodontic pastes cause?
NERVE PARAESTHESIA on extrusion.
4 aims of endodontic treatment?
- Access, clean and disinfect the root canal system.
- Reduce the number of microorganisms (those in planktonic suspension, in biofilm attached to canal walls, in inaccessible areas like apical delta and isthmuses).
- Remove necrotic tissue.
- Seal the system to prevent reinfection.
5 causes of persistent periapical radiolucencies in endodontically treated teeth?
- Intraradicular infection.
- Extraradicular infection.
- Foreign body reaction.
- true cyst.
- Fibrous scar tissue.
How can you differentiate between the different types of periradicular lesions?
- Clinically, periradicular lesions CANNOT be differentially
diagnosed as cystic or non-cystic based on conventional
radiographs. - Only possible through HISTPATHOLOGY.
2 types of cysts?
- True cyst: cavities completely enclosed in an epithelial lining.
- Pocket/bay cyst: epithelium-lined cavities that are open to the root canal.
What did Nair et al find when they tested 256 periapical lesions histopathologically?
15% cysts.
4 indications for periradicular surgery
- Failure of previous endodontic treatment if retreatment is NOT possible/ will not correct the problem (ex. GP extrusion, post crown without obturation below post).
- Anatomical deviations which prevent complete cleaning and obturation by an orthograde approach (tortuous, curved roots, canal calcification).
- Procedural errors (ledges, blocks, perforations, file breakages, overfills).
- Exploratory surgery (identification of root fractures).
5 contraindications to periradicular surgery?
- Anatomical factors (proximity to nerve bundles, thick cortical bone, difficult access ex. palatal roots upper molars).
- Inadequate periodontal support
- Non restorable tooth
- Medical history (blood disorders, MI, cancer treatment).
- Skill and ability of surgeon
What type of lens system is used in loupes? What magnification? Type of light? 3 disadvantages?
- Convergent lens system (greenough system).
- Fixed magnification up to 4.5x.
- Light not integral but provided by fibreoptic headlight.
- Disadvantages: Users eyes must converge, ocular muscles can tire causing eyestrain and fatigue, small movements of the head result in loss of visual field.
what is the triad of endodontic microsurgery?
- Magnification.
- Illumination.
- Instruments.
4 things that determine magnification?
- The power of the eyepiece.
- The focal length of the binoculars.
- The focal length of the objective lens.
- The magnification changer factor.
What is the magnification range of a microscope? What do we use for periradicular surgery?
- 3x-30x.
- Use 8-10x for periradicular surgery.
Low, midrange and high magnification. Values and uses?
- Low x3 to x8: Wider field, high focal depth. Orientation and alignment of instruments.
- Midrange 10 to 16: Moderate focal depth. WORKING magnification.
- High 20 to 30: Focal depth shallow, inspection of fine detail.
3 preoperative medications for periradicular surgery?
- Anti-inflammatory agents: Ibuprofen 600mg immediately before surgery. Inhibits cyclo-oxygenase, preventing the formation of inflammatoy mediators.
- Antibacterial rinses: 0.2% chlorhexidine night before, morning of, 30 minutes before appointment.
- Diazepam: 5mg diazepam if very nervous.
2 uses of anaesthesia for periradicular surgery?
- Prevents pain during surgery
- Obtains presurgical haemostasis
Lidocaine for periradicular surgery (5)?
- lidocaine 2% with 1:80000 epinephrine (ideally 1:50000).
- Causes activation of alpha receptors in arteriolar muscles, submucosa and periodontium.
- Maximum dose 5 cartridges.
- Rate 1/2mL per min.
- Little or no response from CNS.
Articaine for periradicular surgery (2)?
- The only amide LA that contains a thiophene ring and an additional ester ring
- Greater tissue diffusion
What is a semilunar flap? 4 disadvantages?
- Created by a single curved HORIZONTAL incision.
- Disruption of blood supply, poor wound healing, limited surgical access, scarring.
- NOT USED IN MODERN ENDODONTICS.
What is a mucoperiosteal flap?
Includes mucosa, connective tissue and periosteum.