Role of the confinement of a root canal on jet impingement during endodontic irrigation

• Published in: Experiments in fluids Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 1841 - 1853
• Main Authors: Verhaagen, B., Boutsioukis, C., Heijnen, G. L., van der Sluis, L. W. M., Versluis, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.12.2012; Springer
• Subjects: Axisymmetric; Biological and medical sciences; Computational fluid dynamics; Confinement; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Fluids; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Head and neck surgery. Maxillofacial surgery. Dental surgery. Orthodontics; Heat and Mass Transfer; Instrumentation for fluid dynamics; Marine; Maxillofacial surgery. Dental surgery. Orthodontics; Medical sciences; Physics; Research Article; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Root Canal Treatment; Root Canal; Computational Fluid Dynamic Model; Root Canal Wall; Particle Image Velocimetry; Confinement; Dental canal; Speed measurement; Dentistry; Experimental study; Confined jet; Tooth root; Endodontic procedures; Treatment; Flow(fluid); Particle image velocimetry; Model test; Antibacterial agent
• ISSN: 0723-4864; 1432-1114
• DOI: 10.1007/s00348-012-1395-0

During a root canal treatment the root canal is irrigated with an antimicrobial fluid, commonly performed with a needle and a syringe. Irrigation of a root canal with two different types of needles can be modeled as an impinging axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric jet. These jets are investigated experimentally with high-speed Particle Imaging Velocimetry, inside and outside the confinement (concave surface) of a root canal, and compared to theoretical predictions for these jets. The efficacy of irrigation fluid refreshment with respect to the typical reaction time of the antimicrobial fluid with a biofilm is characterized with a non-dimensional Damköhler number. The pressure that these jets induce on a wall or at the apex of the root canal is also measured. The axisymmetric jet is found to be stable and its velocity agrees with the theoretical prediction for this type of jet, however, a confinement causes instabilities to the jet. The confinement of the root canal has a pronounced influence on the flow, for both the axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric jet, by reducing the velocities by one order of magnitude and increasing the pressure at the apex. The non-axisymmetric jet inside the confinement shows a cascade of eddies with decreasing velocities, which at the apex does not provide adequate irrigation fluid refreshment.