Endo entering the digital world at top speed - the trusted and the innovative at IDS 2019

The success of an endodontic therapy depends on many factors, including the documentation of all root canals, their hermetic sealing and the type of the subsequent coronal treatment. The International Dental Show (IDS), 12 to 16 March 2019, in Cologne shows in a unique abundance how current innovations can be optimally put to use in the individual treatment stages.

The success rate in endodontics mainly lies at over 90 percent today, when observed over a period of ten years. In order to optimise his personal approach, the practitioner wants to fall back on the best of the best - from the magnifying glass, to modern filing systems, through to the virtual pre-planning of the root canal treatment.

Digital-based endodontics are currently offering exciting innovations. In this section the expert has long since been familiar with digital 2D X-rays (with sensors or the image plate technique) as an alternative to the classic, analogue X-rays. For a few years there have already been endo-motors that can be controlled using a tablet and which open up digital worlds with advantages in the documentation and patient communications section. Now the development is moving in the direction of a virtually pre-planned root canal treatment - through to "guided endo" (similar to a guided implantations using a drilling template).

In the digital world the familiar method and the products retain their customary function in their implementation and are further developed. For example, partly heat-treated files that offer even more flexibility, which particularly proves advantageous for anatomically complex anatomies, stand out here. Furthermore, through the use of lasers the disinfection of prepared root canals will succeed more safely in the future (PIPS or SWEEPS: photon induced photoacoustic rinsing methods, shock wave enhanced emission photoacoustic streaming). And for the obturation motorised extruders can simplify the dental approach by uniting all of the necessary functions. They encompass among others the introduction of the gutta-percha, filling the canal and where necessary making space for a root post.

With the support of software the whole procedure is made more efficiently plannable and thus safer and more sure of success. A 3D X-ray and the computer programme are the basis for this. The dentist can now mark through the root canals with dots on the screen from the top to the bottom. The software recommends the right sized files, the matching obturators and much more and offers the opportunity to go through the treatment in advance virtually. Basically it is also possible to divide up the work, for instance a specialist plans the treatment, which is then carried out by the family dentist himself. As a next step we have guided endodontics: For example, a template ensures that the glidescope files are introduced into the canal at the optimal angle.

"The tools available now support the endo team in many ways in the course of the usual treatment process," Mark Stephen Pace, Chairman of the VDDI (Association of the German Dental Industry e.V.) is convinced. "Things are moving into the digital world dynamically. It makes the therapy even safer and I am expecting the success rate that is already high today to improve even further long-term. The current progress regarding the classic instruments and for diagnostic tools is equally important here. The International Dental Show 2019 in Cologne demonstrates the wealth of opportunities."

IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and is staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.