In Vivo Determination of the Frequency Response of the Tooth Root Canal Impedance versus Distance from the Apical Foramen

Abstract

Working length (WL) determination is a key factor to the endodontic therapy or root canal treatment success. Almost all therapy procedures depend on this measure and the wrong WL determination may produce severe consequences, like post-therapeutic pain and the need of a new root canal treatment. Electronic foramen locators (EFL) have been replacing the traditional radiographic imaging as they are faster, easier to use and have a higher success rate when measuring WL. EFLs are based on the root canal impedance assessment between two electrodes: one fixed on the endodontic file that is inserted into the root canal, and the other positioned at oral mucosa membrane. There are only few reported studies that qualify or quantify the root canal impedance characteristics. The present work aims to determine the module of tooth root canal frequency response. The preliminary results show the frequency response module variation as a function of endodontic file position inside the root canal and reinforce the methods based on relative impedance over frequency analysis used in modern EFLs.