John I. Ingle

Isotope determination of root canal failure.

Abstract The pulpless tooth with the completely obturated root canal space is a perfectly sound member of the dental arch. However, endodontic failures do occur and more than one-half of these failures may be related to the poorly obturated canal. This simple experiment emphasizes the two most important procedures in root canal therapy: (1) thorough canal enlargement by instrumentation and (2) complete canal obturation. Care in the execution of these two procedures, coupled with accurate case selection, should render nearly 100 per cent success in the practice of endodontics.

Rapid processing of endodontic “working” roentgenograms

A substantial amount of time is lost in the routine processing of roentgenograms in a busy endodontic practice. This time loss can be sharply reduced, however, by using enriched developer and fixer or by increasing the temperature of the processing solutions. The generally recommended temperature of the solutions for the processing of dental roentgenograms has been 68O F. It is claimed that this temperature produces optimum roentgenographic results. Unfortunately, about 6 minutes of darkroom time is required to achieve this result, even when only a single film is processed. The busy endodontist can ill afford this recurrent loss of time. In order to evaluate the effect of heated solutions upon processing time and film quality, the following project was undertaken. Every effort was made to keep all conditions constant with the exception of developing temperature and t.ime, which were varied.

Management of periapical infection: Antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria isolated from root canals

Abstract The antibiotic sensitivity to penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, and chloramphenicol of staphylococci and streptococci isolated from root canals has been studied. Using the high-concentration single-disk technique, a convenient method standardized with respect to clinical effectiveness, it was found that 32.4 per cent of the staphylococci were resistant to penicillin and 24.3 per cent were resistant to tetracycline. Of all the streptococci, only the enterococci displayed a high incidence of resistance. Eighty-three per cent were resistant to penicillin, and 33.3 per cent were resistant to tetracycline. The importance of routine antibiotic-sensitivity tests to aid in the management of periapical infections has been discussed.