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Access cavity preparation and glide path are the critical first steps in root canal treatment. There have been many changes from traditional access preparation to current access trends, due to improvements in available instruments, dental operating microscopes, and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). The access preparations have been trending toward being more minimally invasive and to conserve dentin. However, this puts more strain on the instruments and may make subsequent cleaning, shaping, and obturation more difficult. Securing the glide path is a very delicate procedure and must be performed with mindfulness and patience. The proper sequence of instruments should be followed, as well as the care is taken to irrigate between instruments.
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the trend to be more minimally invasive in access preparation.
- Comprehend why preservation of critical dentin is important.
- Identify new instruments and tools allowed for this trend.
- Learn to recognize cases to tackle and cases to refer, and where challenges may be.
- Explain why securing a smooth glide-path is critical for rotary instrumentation and important for the cleaning and shaping to follow.
