Research team receive multiple awards for micro-guided endodontics technique

The technique was designed to treat teeth with PCC and narrow roots using a printed template with incorporated sleeves that guide a bur to the calcified root canal. The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of guided endodontics in mandibular anterior teeth using miniaturised instruments.

Sixty sound mandibular anterior teeth were used in ten mandibular models. Preoperative surface and CBCT scans were matched using the coDiagnostiX software. Virtual planning was performed for the access cavities, and templates—produced by a 3-D printer—were used for guidance. A postoperative CBCT scan was superimposed on the virtual plan, and the deviation was measured in three dimensions and angles.

The study found that micro-guided endodontics provides an accurate, fast and operator-independent technique for the preparation of apically extended access cavities in teeth with narrow roots, such as mandibular incisors.

“If a tooth is calcified, it is very difficult to find the root canal,” explained co-author Prof. Gabriel Krastl from the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology at the hospital. He explained that the treatment would be difficult, even if conducted by professionals and by means of a surgical microscope, and that, in these cases, often the only solution is the removal of the damaged tooth. “Using the template, we can open calcified root canals in a short time and with maximum protection of the hard tooth substance,” added Krastl. According to him, the micro-guided endodontics technique has already been successfully applied on several occasions.

The researchers were recently recognised for their micro-guided endodontics procedure in the category of “Basic Research: Technology” of the JOE Publication Award, which was established to honour the achievements and contributions of individuals to the specialty of endodontics once a year. This is the technique’s third award. In 2015, it received the Hochschulpreis Endodontie [endodontics university prize] from the German journal Endodontie and, in 2016, was presented with the Dental Innovation Award by the Stiftung Innovative Zahnmedizin.

The study, titled “Microguided endodontics: Accuracy of a miniaturized technique for apically extended access cavity preparation in anterior teeth”, was published in the May 2017 issue of the Journal of Endodontics.

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