Navigating the Abyss: Addressing Incompetence and Injury in Root Canal Therapy
CE Hours: 2.25
Description: Patient injury as an outcome of endodontic treatment can have devastating consequences for both the patient and the endodontist. Mishaps that occur during the therapeutic stages of endodontic therapy can result in significant irreversible damage to teeth and the jaws as well as neurologic damage within the head and neck, with an unpredictable course and an uncertain prognosis. This presentation will discuss the evidence and best practices regarding clinician thinking and actions resulting in patient injury and impairment as a result of endodontic care. The presentation will review the data for prognosis and how to determine treatment and intervention strategies in local anesthetic injury; chemical harm from overfill; as well as irrigation accidents and the resulting neural trauma caused by surgical error.
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize the advantages of imaging technologies in identifying key neurovascular structures and their proximity to the root canal systems of teeth.
- Identify safe protocols for avoiding extra-radicular overfill of the root canal space when there is close proximity to neurovascular anatomy.
- Become familiar with prognosis and best practice for injuries and overfill mishaps that result in neurologic damage.
Alan Gluskin, D.D.S.
Professor of Endodontics
University of the Pacific
Alan H. Gluskin DDS: graduated from the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, San Francisco, California in 1972. He received his Endodontic Certification from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1976. Dr. Gluskin is currently Professor, Department of Endodontics, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific in San Francisco, California. He served as Endodontic Depatrment Chair at Pacific for over thirty years. He is at present a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and the American College of Dentists.
Dr. Gluskin is a member of numerous societies including the American Association of Endodontists, the American Dental Association, and the San Francisco Dental Society. He has recently concluded his service to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Endodontists as Past President, and presently functions on the editorial boards of the Journal of Endodontics and the International Journal of Endodontics. Dr. Gluskin is the 2017 recipient of the University of the Pacific’s Eberhardt Teacher-Scholar Award and was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2023 by the dental school faculty. He is co-editor of the textbooks Decision Making in Dental Treatment Planning and Practical Lessons in Endodontic Treatment.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
