Dr Christos Boutsioukis

Chemo-mechanical preparation strategies: are we at the dawn of another paradigm shift?

Irrigation with antimicrobial solutions has long been considered the cornerstone of chemo-mechanical preparation while the main role of instrumentation is thought to be to provide sufficient radicular access for the irrigants to reach and interact with the biofilm. This concept has driven research efforts and the development of elaborate irrigation methods and systems for the past two decades but clinical evidence that these can improve the treatment outcome is still lacking. At the same time, the rival concept of minimally-invasive root canal shaping assigns greater importance to the preservation of coronal and radicular dentine at the expense of the unimpeded access of irrigants, again without convincing clinical evidence on its benefits. This lecture will discuss irrigation-driven vs minimally-invasive chemo-mechanical preparation strategies.

Objectives

To outline the requirements for effective root canal irrigation using a variety of methods.

To analyse the obstacles created by minimal root canal shaping.

To examine whether these obstacles can be overcome by next-generation irrigation methods.

To list possible explanations for the lack of clinical evidence supporting either strategy.

Biography

Dr. Christos Boutsioukis is based in the Department of Endodontology, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Dr Boutsioukis received his DDS degree in 2003 and his postgraduate certificate in Endodontics in 2006 from the University of Thessaloniki in Greece. From 2007-2010 he divided his time between the University of Thessaloniki, the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA) and the Physics of Fluids group at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, towards completion of  the PhD degree. In 2011 he became postdoctoral researcher in the Physics of Fluids group, University of Twente and in 2013 he joined ACTA, where he is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Endodontology. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and five book chapters and serves as a referee for several international journals. He is also a member of the ESE Research Committee. His main research interest lies in experimental and computational methods to study the dynamics of root canal irrigation.