Irrigants in non-surgical endodontic treatment

This paper highlights that one of the main goals of root canal treatment is the elimination of microorganisms from the contaminated root canal system. Instrumentation alone will not allow for adequate debridement and disinfection of the complex and diverse root canal system. Chemomechanical debridement is required. The importance of the use of irrigants during non-surgical root canal treatment has frequently been neglected both during instruction of dental students and later in the clinical practice of endodontics. The article highlights 'shape, clean and fill' vs. 'clean, shape and fill' to enable chemomechanical debridement. Our protocol advises mechanical debridement and copious irrigation for a minimum of twenty minutes with 2.5% to 6% solutions of sodium hypochlorite, followed by a rinse with a 17% solution of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and a final rinse with 2% chlorhexidine. The canals are dried with high volume aspirators and sterile paper points.