Page 10 - Boyne Dental E-Mag

The Procedure:

 An x-ray is needed to make sure that the root canal filling is intact and adequately seals the
root canal as well as assuring that the surrounding bone is in a healthy state.
 A small cavity (hole) is made in the back of the tooth where the original root canal entered the
pulp. The pulp space should be completely cleaned of debris and stain. The canal above the
root canal filling is then cleaned and irrigated.
 The top end of the root canal filling is then sealed in with a special cement to prevent the
bleaching agent from leaking into the root canal filling. This creates a double seal of the root
canal space.
 The sodium perborate putty is applied to the empty pulp chamber, covered with a cotton pel-
let and sealed in with an adhesive temporary restoration. A sound seal is required around the
access cavity to prevent leakage of the bleaching agent into the mouth. This procedure is re-
peated every three to four days until successful bleaching becomes apparent. This normally
occurs after one to four visits.
 Once the desired colour change has been achieved, a more permanent restoration (filling)
which seals the dentin, is required for a successful bleaching therapy. The access cavity is re-
stored with a composite resin (tooth coloured filling material) which bonds to the tooth enam-
el and dentin.