Influence of Endodontic Needle Designs on Root Canal Irrigation

Alessandra Baasch; Karen Brisson-Suárez; Juan Miguel Koury; Víctor Talarico Leal Vieira & Flavio Ferreira Alves

Summary

Root canal irrigation with antibacterial solutions is considered an essential part of the chemical-mechanical preparation. Several factors influence the efficacy of root canal irrigation, including apical preparation size and taper, needle penetration distance from the apex, flow and volume of irrigant substance, dimension of the needles and the presence of curvature of the root canal. The apical preparation size and the taper affect irrigant replacement, shear stress on the root canal walls, and pressure on the apical foramen. Placing the tip of the needle closer to the apex, allows more efficient solution exchange, resulting in better cleaning and disinfection of the root canal. The velocity of the irrigant, next to the needle, on the opposite canal walls and in front of the needle outlet is dependent on the design of the needle. The flow and irrigant replacement pattern of open ended needles is different from needles with closed tip. The needles that achieve better irrigant exchange in the apical part of the root canal also lead to an increase in mean pressure in the apical foramen which indicates a greater risk of extrusion of the irrigant into the periapical tissue. The objective of this literature review is to evaluate the different needle designs and their influence on the root canal system irrigation.

KEY WORDS: needle irrigation, tip, needle irrigation design.

How to cite this article

BAASCH, A.; BRISSON-SUÁREZ, K.; KOURY, J. M.; VIEIRA, V. T. L. & ALVES, F. F. Influence of endodontic needle designs on root canal irrigation. Int. J. Odontostomat., 15(3):756-764, 2021.