PDM 2016
A Day of Endodontic Learning at
Pennsylvania’s Dental Meeting
By Bruce R. Terry, DMD, President-Elect
I must first say that I am the biggest nerd when it comes to
dentistry, and more specifically, endodontics. As an endodontist
for almost 30 years, I have attended several continuing education
courses in endodontics for the general dentist as well as for the
endodontist. Pennsylvania’s Dental Meeting (PDM) at the Hershey
Lodge in May of this year was ideal for anyone interested in
furthering their knowledge and understanding of modern
endodontics.
With the support of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania
Department of Endodontics, attendees were enlightened and
educated in the latest techniques and materials available today.
The morning started with an interesting lecture by Dr. Martin
Trope about the current concepts in treating traumatically injured
teeth. Dr. Trope gave us evidence based information regarding
the treatment and management of injured teeth and included
information about pulpal regeneration.
Dr. Sam Kratchman spoke next about microsurgical endodontic
surgery. He discussed success and failure with current methods
of treatment vs. older treatments and gave great illustrations of
how to position a patient during microscopic procedures. Modern
endodontic surgery is highly successful when one uses a microscope
and combines it with ultrasonic root end preparation and
bioceramic root end filling material.
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Just before lunch Dr. Meetu Kohli explored the world of
conventional endodontic treatment with a great overview
of rotary instrumentation and bioceramic root canal cements.
Her lecture was a great introduction to one of two hands-on
sessions with Zeiss microscopes and all the newest endodontic
motors, rotary files and cements to preform optimal root canal
treatment. More than one of the participants returned from
lunch and commented that the hands-on session changed
everything for him and made endodontics fun.
After lunch Dr. Bekir Karabucak discussed current evidence in
endodontic retreatments. His lecture covered the importance
of good diagnosis for proper treatment. He showed how CBCT
imaging is changing how endodontists diagnose and treat.
He showed cases that succeeded because we better understood
the problem before we started treatment.
Our final speaker for the afternoon, Dr. Frank Setzer, gave us
the most current comparison of root canal treatment vs dental
implants. He showed us when one prevails over the other and
helped us to better understand the limitations of what we can
do and what might be best for our patients.
I am lucky to have been able to attend this full day of education
as were all the other participants in attendance. There were so
many pearls and new information for the practitioner. So many
people were taking copious notes and asking great questions.
I hope to see more programs like this at future PDMs.