Automation of gutta-percha disinfection

Abstract

Root canal treatment is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth which is intended to result in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. During root canal treatment, it is possible that the gutta-percha cones, which are a permanent filling in the treatment, become contaminated. Before being placed in the root canal, it must be sterilized. Additionally, the gutta-percha sterilization process may lead to bacterial growth in the root canal. Thus, gutta-percha sterilization should take place at the same time as root canal cleaning. For this purpose, gutta-percha sterilization must be automated, instead of conventional disinfection methods. The primary objective of this study is to automate the gutta-percha sterilization operation and improve disinfection efficacy with a low turn-around time and high precision. As per the results obtained during the experiment, the turn-around time for sterilization takes 5-8 minutes with good disinfection efficacy in microbial testing and a precision of 92% for 57 cycles of testing.