Another one for the Endo Geeks

This post is a rather specific one for dentists with a keen interest in endodontics and may not be of much value for patient information. If you are a patient visiting this site looking for information on root fillings please follow the link or look at other clinical cases within the blog.

The case shown below is one I completed using the 2mm file from SAF with only a single hand file for initial apical gauging ( I got lucky and guessed with a 30 file). No rotaries were used at all. The upper left central was treated a few years ago by an endodontist in Poland using conventional techniques. What interests me is how smaller the apical preparation is with the non rotary (SAF) approach. I think we are so conditioned to look for the wide “robust” apical plug that we might look at the SAF result as rather under prepared. I filled with a F4 ProTaper GP using a softened tip approach (1 second dip in solvent then placed soft to length and removed using locking tweezers) prior to sealing and heat condensing to 3mm from full working length. I am confident from seeing the shape of the modified tip that this represented an accurate impression of the apical shape and wonder now whether the apical filling in the upper left central may represent a degree of over preparation. The post I used was a directly applied and adapted system from StickTech, The EverStick Post System and did not require any removal of coronal tissue to accommodate a wide metal post.

As ever these posts are done to generate response and debate so we can all learn and progress our techniques. I certainly don’t think that either approach is entirely right or wrong and each will have its place but I wonder now if we need to impose our design on to the canal anatomy quite so much as before?