Endodontic Therapy Essay

Endodontic therapy involves treating vital and necrotic dental pulps so that patients can retain their natural teeth in function and esthetics. A successful endodontic therapy depends on many factors,among which the most important step is canal preparation as it determines the efficacy of all subsequent procedures .

Cleaning pertains to the sufficient removal of debris, bacteria and smear layer from the root canal.3 Debris is defined as dentin chips and residual vital or necrotic pulp tissue attached to the root canal wall. The smear layer is a surface film approximately 1 to 2 μm of dentin particles, residual pulp tissue, and bacterial components that remain on the root canal wall after mechanical instrumentation.3

Therefore proper cleaning is essential in order to provide an adequate seal and to prevent failure.4 The goal

Pulp tissue remnants and inorganic debris remain in well-shaped canals, especially in those areas where the instruments are not in contact (4). The amount of residual tissues was more in canals that were treated without irrigation than those in which root canal irrigants were used (6).Hence the irrigants are essential for successful debridement of the root canals after mechanical preparation(7).

The most popular irrigating solution is Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) which is commonly used in concentrations between 0.5% - 6%. It is the only irrigant capable of dissolving organic tissue, biofilm, and the organic part of the smear layer.
QMiX is a 2 in 1 endodontic irrigant for smear layer removal with added antimicrobial agents. It contains EDTA, chlorhexidine and a detergent. It is a clear solution, ready to use with no chair-side mixing. A white precipitate that was formed on mixing of EDTA and CHX , (Rasimick et al. 2008) was avoided in QMiX because of its chemical