Patient Management
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.5
Description: Systemic health is related to oral health and vice versa. Many systemic diseases are manifested in the oral cavity and many oral conditions and therapies have a profound impact upon systemic diseases. In addition, some of the therapies used to these conditions have significant effects on the oral cavity. For those reasons, it is important for dentists ( and dental health care professionals) to know about their patients' medical conditions before treating them and to understand which diseases manifest themselves in the oral cavity. This course will present a thorough overview of the principles of the management of medical conditions in dental patients, Furthermore, the participant will be updated upon current understanding and treatment of oral conditions such as oral cancer, xerostomia, lichen planus and candidiasis among others.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the changing epidemiology of medical problems in dental patients
- Review the medical manifestations and treatment options for medical problems in dental patients
- Identify the oral manifestations and potential complications of medical problems in dental patients
Educational support provided by Endodontic Practice Partners
Nelson L. Rhodus, D.M.D., M.P.H.
NELSON L RHODUS, DMD, MPH, FICD, FRCSEd, FAAOM, Diplomate American Board of Oral Medicine, is a Morse Distinguished Professor and Director of the Division of Oral Medicine, Oral Diagnosis and Radiology in the Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences in the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology in the Medical School and an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health . He is a Diplomate, examiner and past President of the American Board of Oral Medicine, He is also past President of the American Academy of Oral Medicine. He is an inductee in the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center Academy of Excellence and the Academy of Distinguished Teachers and the University of Minnesota Scholar’s Walk of Fame. He is a Fellow in the International College of Dentists and of the American College of Dentists and a Fellow in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is an Attending member of the Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center and the Hospital Staff of the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinics, a consultant to the US Navy Hospital and Hennepin County Medical Center.
Dr. Rhodus directs several oral medicine courses and has been awarded "Professor of the year " for fourteen years and is a recipient the School of Dentistry Century Club Professor of the Year . He has been active in faculty governance and served in many capacities in the University Senate for over 27 years.
Dr. Rhodus has been active with the American Dental Association and the Minnesota Dental Association having served on several committees and the editorial board and has been selected often( x 10) as Best Dentist by Minnesota Monthly and Top Dentist-USA.
Dr. Rhodus has been active in basic and clinical research for over 38 years and he has published over three hundred- eighty refereed scientific papers and abstracts. His H index is 42 and his research has been cited over 5000 times. He has presented over seven-hundred lectures and courses throughout the United States and abroad. He is on the medical advisory board for the National Oral Cancer Foundation and the National Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation. He is an editor of the Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology. He co-authors two textbooks: DENTAL MANAGEMENT OF THE MEDICALLY COMPROMISED PATIENT (10ed.) and OROFACIAL DISORDERS.In accordance with this policy, I declare I have a past or present proprietary or relevant financial relationship or receive gifts in kind (including soft intangible remuneration), consulting position or affiliation or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product service, course, and/or company, or in any firm beneficially associated therewith as indicated below:
Disclosure(s): NIH, SSF (Grants/Research Support), US Army, Navy, VA (Consultant)
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 0.75
Description: Endodontists necessarily focus on the procedural aspects of root canal treatment, from diagnosis to technique and recall. However, we must also understand the patient’s perspective, and we must know ourselves. Endodontic outcomes, from the presenter’s published systematic reviews, amongst other studies, will be discussed from patients’ and doctors’ points of view. This presentation will explore data on patient’s perceptions. What do patients know about root canal treatment, and why does this matter? What level of anxiety can be expected, and how can it be reduced? Pain, what should be expected, the intensity, the duration, and management? How does root canal treatment impact quality of life? How much does tooth retention and a smile matter? Differences between institutional outcome studies and real-world community endodontics will be explained. The positive economic impact of root canal treatment on the patient will be enumerated. Data on the critical impact of root canal treatment to the elderly and the vulnerable will be summarized. Ways to identify and understand vulnerable young adults will be explained. We dentists may assume that we are completely objective dispassionate scientific professionals implementing evidence-based practice, but the reality is that we also carry all the complex attributes of humanity. Just like patients, our cognitions, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors are shaped by all of our interactions with the wider world. These will be elucidated, and key differences between endodontists and generalists will be documented. This presentation is both a looking glass, and a celebration, of the conduct and impact root canal treatment.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe endodontic outcomes as measured by data from clinical success and survival instruments, patient-centered instruments, and dentists’ perceptions.
- List the outcome metrics that have the highest impact on patients, and comprehensively evaluate a variety of outcome metrics.
- Discuss the impact of dentists’ cognitions, attitudes and behaviors on treatment outcomes.
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.0
Description: Pulp canal obliteration is a significant risk factor for endodontic insufficiency, and the clinical treatment approach is challenging even for specialists. Accessing root canals that may be calcified can present complications in locating, penetrating, and negotiating pulp spaces. Efforts to reduce the risk of technical errors and treatment time using new technologies, such as intraoral scanners and their software and 3D printers, have resulted in the development of a therapeutic approach to locate calcified root canals: endodontic guides or guided endodontics. During the present lecture, it will be described the therapeutic approach used in a series of cases of endodontic pathology requiring endodontic treatment of root canals, with different degrees of pulp canal obliteration. In all cases, virtually planned guided endodontics allowed access to obliterated pulp spaces. Once the canals were negotiated, endodontic treatment could be performed adequately. The present results showed static guided endodontics to be a safe accurate treatment approach in these clinical cases and a valuable tool to negotiate calcified root canals, reducing working time, risk of excessive removal of tooth structure, and iatrogenic damage to the root.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate different treatment options for clinical management of calcified canals.
- Describe the steps to carry out the guided endodontics procedure, in cases of obliterated canals.
- Perform static guided endodontics as a safe and predictable procedure to manage calcified canals.
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 0.75
Description: Combined endodontic-periodontal lesions can arise through different mechanisms. Anatomically, these lesions may occur when pulpal tissue communicates with periodontal tissues via accessory canals or dentinal tubules. Other causes of communication include iatrogenic incidents, root perforations, vertical root fractures, or root resorptions. Treatment of primary endodontic lesions can influence the condition of periodontal tissues. However, the extent to which periodontal lesions and their treatment impact endodontic lesions remains a topic of debate. Managing these combined lesions presents challenges, underscoring the importance of accurate diagnosis and selecting appropriate therapy.
Learning Objectives:
- Classify endoperiodontal lesions.
- Describe the impact of endodontic lesions and treatment on periodontal tissues and healing process.
- Describe the impact of periodontal lesions and treatment on endodontic tissues and healing process.
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.25
Description: This session will present an interdisciplinary overview of detecting, diagnosing, treating and restoring teeth with fractures and cracks, both large and small. The presenters will review endodontics and restorative evaluation of fracture lines and cracks and discuss how the endodontist and restorative dentist communicate to make the best decisions to present to a patient for long term success of the endodontics/restorative procedures based on current endodontics and restorative EBD.
Learning Objectives:
- Determine the severity of fractures/cracks in teeth and work with their restorative colleagues on managing, restoring or making a decision to extract a tooth based on the patient's clinical presentation.
- Determine the long term prognosis of care rendered.
- Make an evidenced based decision for treatment options and selection of restorative materials and treatments for the best long term results.
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.5
Description: Dr. John Olmsted and Katie Panikian, JD, CPCU, ARM will present case studies of several real endodontic malpractice cases to the audience. They will highlight endodontic procedures that became issues for dentists, and also endodontic procedures that developed problems for endodontists. A discussion will follow each case, giving the audience a chance to discuss the risk management issues involved in each case. The audience will then be asked to act as a jury, reaching a verdict on the case, and a dollar amount on a judgment. The audience will then be given the real-life verdicts and awards.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how errors in record keeping, diagnosis, treatment planning, and endodontic treatment will affect the claims handling and legal process.
- List the cost in terms of judgments rendered against dentists/endodontists through the discussion of real life malpractice case examples.
- Outline the steps of risk management.
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.0
Description: Fear of dentistry, often due to past painful experiences, is a significant barrier preventing patients from visiting dentists. Achieving effective pain control, especially during root canal treatments, is crucial. However, inferior alveolar nerve blocks (IANBs) have a low success rate, influenced by factors such as anxiety, anatomical variations, and technique limitations, leading to anesthesia failure. Although numerous studies have examined the cold test and electric pulp test (EPT) in assessing the success of local anesthesia, no standardized method has been established. This study evaluated the effectiveness of EPT and cold tests in assessing the depth of anesthesia in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis in the mandibular first molar teeth.
At the conclusion of this article, the reader will be able to:
- Describe the effectiveness of cold and electric pulp tests (EPT) in assessing the success of inferior alveolar nerve blocks (IANB) in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.
- Evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the cold test and EPT in diagnosing pulpal anesthesia failure.
- Discuss the clinical implications of combining cold and electric pulp tests for improving diagnostic accuracy in determining pulpal anesthesia success.
Farzaneh Afkhami, DDS, MSc
Dr. Farzaneh Afkhami is a board-certified endodontist and an associate professor at the Department of Endodontics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, and holds an academic affiliation with the School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland, Australia. She has authored over 50 research papers related to endodontics in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. Her work has garnered over 1.3 K citations and an h-index of 19 on Google Scholar. Dr. Afkhami has shared her findings at international scientific conferences and has supervised both
undergraduate and postgraduate students. Additionally, she holds a patent on a nanomaterial product as a root canal medicament, further advancing the field of endodontics.
Sholeh Ghabraei, DDS, MSc
Dr Sholeh Ghabraei is board-certified specialist in endodontics. She currently serves as associate professor in endodontics department, Dental school, Tehran university of medical sciences. Her research focuses on various aspects of endodontics including randomized controlled trials of anesthesia and pain control. She published 44 peer reviewed manuscripts.
Nasim Hashemi, DDS, MSc
Dr. Nasim Hashemi is a board-certified specialist in Endodontics. She achieved 2nd rank in the Iranian Endodontic Board Examination in 2025. Her research focuses on various aspects of endodontics including randomized controlled trials of anesthesia and pain control and broken instrument removal.
She has published nine peer-reviewed manuscripts, contributing to advancements in endodontic science.
Ove A. Peters, D.M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc.
Dr. Ove A. Peters joined the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 2020 after faculty positions in Heidelberg, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as at the University of California, San Francisco. He currently serves as the Professor of Endodontics and Head of Clinical Dentistry at UQ. Before moving to Australia, Dr. Peters was the founding director of the postgraduate endodontic program at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, a professor with tenure and the Chair of the Department of Endodontics at that school.
Dr. Peters has wide-ranging clinical and research expertise and has published more than 230 manuscripts related to endodontic technology and biology. He has authored two books and contributed to several leading textbooks in dentistry; he also is an associate editor for the International Endodontic Journal as well as the Australian Endodontic Journal, an academic editor for PLOS One and serves on the review panel of multiple other journals. Among others awards, Dr Peters has received the Hans Genet Award of the European Society of Endodontology and more recently the Louis I. Grossman Award of the American Association of Endodontists. He is a Diplomate of the ABE, a member of OKU and a Fellow of the International and American Colleges of Dentistry.Disclosure(s): Dentsply Sirona: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing), Honorarium (Ongoing), Speaker/Honoraria (includes speakers bureau, symposia, and expert witness) (Ongoing)
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 1.5
Description: Endodontic patients frequently have a complex medical history and are on a variety of medications. Evidence is emerging to associate the patients’ clinical presentation and the outcomes of endodontic treatment with some of these medications. This presentation will address some of these medications and their relevance to endodontic considerations.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the level of evidence in existing data on the association of systemic medications and endodontic conditions and their treatment outcomes.
- Describe systemic medications with potential effects on endodontic case presentation.
- Describe systemic medications that may influence the outcomes of endodontic treatment.
Ashraf F. Fouad, D.D.S., M.S.
Dr. Fouad obtained his DDS, Certificate of Endodontics and MS at the University of Iowa.
He served on the faculty and in various administrative roles at University of Connecticut Health Center, the University of Maryland, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently Professor and Chair, Department of Endodontics, and Director, Advanced Endodontics Program, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Fouad has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 24 textbook chapters, and 140 abstracts. He edited and co-authored the textbooks: Endodontic Microbiology, as well as the fifth and sixth editions of Endodontics: Principles and Practice. He is a Diplomate and Past President of the American Board of Endodontics, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Endodontics and Dental Traumatology. He received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Pulp Biology and Regeneration Group of the International Association of Dental Research.
Speaker Disclosure
I declare that I have no proprietary, financial, or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service, course, and/or company, or in any firm beneficially associated therewith, that will be discussed or considered during the proposed presentation
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 0.75
Description: As oral health providers our goal is to improve overall health and well-being of patients. However, in the process of providing care, dentistry leaves a large environmental impact in terms of waste and carbon footprint, and this negatively impacts the health of our patients as well as the planet. Embracing sustainable practices not only benefits the environment but makes strong business sense as well. For instance, adopting sustainable practices can result in cost savings and demonstrate a sense of social responsibility. Additionally, as more patients become environmentally conscious, dental practices that prioritize sustainability can benefit from a competitive advantage and an enhanced reputation.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify areas within the practice where sustainable practices can be implemented.
- Gain insight into how universities are engaging students, faculty, and staff in sustainability efforts related to oral health care.
- Recognize the benefits of sustainability, which extend beyond environmental impact, including cost savings, an enhanced reputation, and increased patient satisfaction.
Yaara Y. Berdan, D.D.S.
Yaara Berdan is the Co-Chair of the Department of Endodontics and Periodontics and the Director of Predoctoral Endodontics at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC. She graduated from the UCSF School of Dentistry and completed a residentcy in pediatric dentistry at Children's Hospital Boston. After two years of practice she began an endodontics residency at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry. She was in private practice in Los Angeles and started volunteering one day a week at USC which turned into a full time position in 2014. In 2022 she received her MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business. She also recieved a certifciate in Business and Sustainability. She is a member of the Educational Affairs Committee of the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) and is the Councilor for the Endodontics Section of ADEA. She is also a co-founder of the Sustainability in Dentistry ADEA Special Interest Group and is the faculty advisor for the Ostrow Sustainability Group.
Speaker Disclosure
I declare that I have no proprietary, financial, or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service, course, and/or company, or in any firm beneficially associated therewith, that will be discussed or considered during the proposed presentation.
Natalie Black, DDS
Natalie Black recently graduated from the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry at USC in 2023. She is currently residing in San Francisco, where she is pursuing advanced training in endodontics at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Black is a dynamic student leader and has been involved in sustainability efforts in higher education. She co-founded and was the president of the Ostrow Sustainability Group during her time at USC. Natalie was also selected to serve as a student representative on the USC Presidential Working Group on Sustainable Education, Research, and Operations.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Aga Chruszczyk, DDS
Dr Agnieszka (Aga) Chruszczyk is a board-certified endodontist with 23 years of clinical experience. She graduated from Medical University in Krakow, Poland in 1992. Upon arrival to the United States, she studied at the University of Illinois, College of Dentistry in Chicago. She graduated from International Dentist Program (IDP) in 1997 and post graduate endodontic program in 2000. She had stayed at UIC for fourteen years as a part time clinical assistant professor in the department of Endodontics. She has been a full-time clinical endodontist in private practice in Chicago area. She’s a past president of local endodontic organization - Coolidge Club and Illinois Association of Endodontist.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
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Includes Credits
CE Hours: 0.75
Description: The dental pulp is a singular connective tissue confined by rigid walls of mineralized tissue in an environment that has a low tolerance to inflammation, where the tissue is supplied by the blood vessels passing through the apical foramen. An arborized vascular system and a delicate artery that penetrates the apical foramen represent its only blood source. Orthodontic movement may cause a great number of tissue alterations in the dental pulp, however, these changes may not be entirely recognized owing to the difficulty in simulating clinical situations. Depending on the duration, type and magnitude of the force, and the physiological tissue tolerance, the pulp tissue may be affected in a reversible or irreversible manner. This presentation will discuss with clinical cases and scientific evidence these alterations and how to deal with the diagnostic procedure.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss using scientific evidence and clinical cases, the pulpal alterations that can occur during orthodontic treatment.
- Describe common orthodontic-endodontic treatment planning challenges.
- Describe an appropriate management of teeth requiring integrated endodontic and orthodontic treatment (i.e sub-epithelial cervical root resorption).
Rodrigo S. Cunha, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Dr. Rodrigo Sanches Cunha completed his Undergraduate Dental Degree in 1994, which he obtained from the Catholic University of Campinas in Sao Paulo - Brazil. His post-graduate studies include a Specialty degree in Endodontics obtained in 1997 from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP); in 2002, a M.Sc. degree in Clinical Dentistry (Endodontics), and in 2006, a Ph.D. degree in Dental Sciences both of which he received from Sao Leopoldo Mandic Centre for Dental Research. Dr. Cunha was an Associate Professor at the Catholic University of Campinas from 2001 until 2011. On September 9, 2011, Dr. Cunha moved with his wife (Andressa) and three daughters (Leticia, Larissa and Helena) to Winnipeg to work as a Full-time Professor at the College of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Cunha became Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (Endodontics) in 2013 and, in 2016, decided to work in Private Practice full-time. Dr. Cunha is the Co-founder of Prairie Endodontics in 2018. Dr. Cunha has been a guest speaker at more than 200 events worldwide. He has published more than 50 papers and abstracts in several peer reviewed journals. In addition, Dr. Cunha has published six book chapters and has extensive clinical experience obtained working in Private Practice limited to Endodontics since 1995. Dr. Rodrigo Cunha is the President of the Canadian Academy of Endodontics (CAE).
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose