7 tips for apex detection using detectors.

7 tips for apex detection using detectors.

 

Although many companies believe that the apex detectors operate in a wet environment no matter what kind of fluid there is in the root canal (blood, pus, NAOCL, etc.), we all actually get strange indications in some cases. Some tips from my experience are:

  1. Always measure in a dry field. I have seen quite a big difference and in some cases it’s the only way to get the right indication.
  2. Personally, I do not only trust the apex detector and I always conduct an x-ray. The combination, I think, is the best and the most correct.
  3. If the apex detector in a dry field deals with long distances in movements of only a few tenths of a millimeter, change the file to the next bigger size and remeasure it. In many cases, my problem was solved by doing this simple move.
  4. If the detector shows a different indication than the x-ray, a simple way to get a third indication is as follows. Take a cone of paper and push it into the channel (I usually get the size 10 and rarely 15) as much to the edge of the root as possible if there is no apex piercing. The cone will get wet as soon as it passes through the apex and will bend.
    When you take it out measure the dry part of the cone. It’s unbelievable how many times this trick will save you from the dilemma.
  5. If you have a tooth where you have to do a root canal treatment after a trauma and you put the apex detector and it shows that you are off the apex, while you know you are inside, it is likely that there is a fracture at the root.
  6. If you use an apex detector underneath a crown (although many companies claim that indications do not change even if it touches amalgam crowns, etc.), and you get a wrong indication, do something simple. Cut a small piece from the handle’s protective bag or from the intraoral camera’s protective bag and place it around the cavity at the height of the file stopper.
    This has saved me several times so I almost always do it from scratch in such cases.
  7. In upper molars whose roots are close to the sinus, the first indication is more correct because if you go out into the sinus, it is most likely to show you that you are still far from the apex due to its structure.
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