Recent CommentsThermafil Carriers: Difficulty Removing Gutta-Percha
posted in Root Canal Obturation, Endodontics, What's New
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Print This PostDr. A. asks:
I recently started using Thermafil Carriers (DENTSPLY) to obturate root canal preparations made with ProTaper nickel titanium rotary files. The system works great. The canals are obturated beautifully. I am doing more endo than ever before because it is so quick and easy with these two systems. The only problem I am having is that I find it really difficult to remove gutta-percha and the centeral plastic portion of the carrier. I have skidded off the plastic portion of the central core of the carrier and nearly perforated the canal walls on several occasions. Can anyone recommend burs that I can use for this purpose that will get the job done but minimize the chance of perforation? Any other suggestions?
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7 Responses to “ Thermafil Carriers: Difficulty Removing Gutta-Percha ”
Dear Dr A…If i need to remove the whole filling for the purpose of retreatment, i would use manual H file #10, 15,20 pasing them gently at the side of plastic carrier i.e. in GP, remove GP and pass it further apicaly then engage the plastic carrier with H file and pull it out. If youwant to prepare post hole then you can special burs for thermafil grinding (high speed) ask Dentsply sale rep. use these without water and press it very gently on thermafil point so it burns it to the required depth then use post drill to prepare post hole.
regards
That high speed burr generates extremely great heat.
Dear Dr. A:
If the Thermafil obturator is matched up with the appropriate rotary file, then there should be very little space between the obturation and the canal walls. This might make passing a hedstrom file adjacet to the obturator difficult. Dentsply/Tulsa Dental Specialties makes a great rotary file that was developed just for this purpose. They are the “D” series files. Remove the obturation to the orifice, then either use the D1 rotary file or a Gates #3, only going about 2mm into the orifice. Then, use the D2 and then the D3 to work you way down the canal, usually about 1500 to 2000 RPM. As an alternative to the D file, you can use a #20, 04 ProFile GT. You will find that the obturator will come out easily, or at least you can slip a #15 or #20 along side the obturator after making the space with the rotary file. The difficulty in retreating Thermafil is grossly over-rated, especially by endodontists that don’t use it. Follow the above guidelines, and removal will be simple. You will note that the Thermafil products from Dentsply have a groove along side the obturator; Soft core and Guidance obturators do not, and for that reason, they might be much more difficult to remove.
Dear Dr. A,
The UniCore drill from Ultradent will remove a Thermafil carrier. See Ultradent’s Website:
http://store.ultradent.com/OA_HTML/upiibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10382
Here are some relevant bullet points from the UniCore product page:
- The drill’s tip also greatly enhances the removal of stubborn rigid carriers like Thermafil, as well as gliding down canals filled with traditional gutta percha or synthetic Resilon cones.
- Excellent for endo retreatments when you have to remove stubborn obturators like ThermaFil, gutta percha, and composite fills (up to 15 procedures per drill).
- Specially designed flutes cut the sides of the canal only–never the bottom, so no zipping or stripping of the post chamber walls occurs.
for removing Thermafil for post placment, try the UniCore Post placement drills from ultradent. the easiest ones I have used to date
Prepie Bur
Dear Dr. Lou,
I wondering how you find that groove in the carrier? Can you see it in the microscope? Thermafil isn’t marketed to endodontists because root canal therapy isn’t easy, in spite of what your rep is teaching you. So the perception that endo is easy because of two systems manufactured and MARKETED by Dentsply is just that, a perception, not reality. It’s a disservice to your patient to approach their dental care in this manner.