Jumper Cables

This past Tuesday I had the very unpleasant experience of having my first root canal procedure. I had been told by friends and family that root canals were not painful and that I had nothing to worry about. I had also heard horror stories involving excruciating pain and psychological damage. So, when I walked inside the endodontics office I had no clue what to expect.

For those individuals not familiar with the root canal procedure here is a brief synopsis:

• A tooth is considered "dead' when it has become abscessed and the nerves within the roots are no longer working.


• Teeth usually become abscessed from having deep/repeat fillings performed by a dentist.


• An endodontist then performs the root canal by drilling away the filling and inserting small files down into the root cavity to eliminate the dead nerves and remove the infection.


• Finally, the canals are filled with a rubber material and a cap (crown) is placed on top of the repaired tooth.

Other than the needle, the first part of the procedure went smoothly. The stomach churning smell of burning tooth enamel did not even to bother me.

About halfway through the procedure the doctor began inserting the small files down into my tooth canals to grind away at the infection.........

This is when I bit her finger.......

I did this strictly from impulse as the pain shot through the right side of my head and down my neck. She had obviously poked and prodded too deep and crashed her razor sharp file into the still "live" nerves that were under my tooth. She apologized and left the room. (Probably to go sulk about her throbbing index finger).

When she returned she had a device that resembled a battery tester, complete with what looked like jumper cables. To my surprise she clamped the "jumper cables" to one end of the file that was still sticking out of my tooth. I heard a series of beeps from the machine. This continued for a while until she completed her "test". My curiosity about the device stifled the pain through the rest of the procedure.

When I arrived home I researched the device. The doctor had used an electronic apex locator on me.

Electronic apex locators (EALs) are used in endodontics to measure the length of the canals inside a tooth. EALs have been around since 1993 but new technologies are allowing the devices to become very beneficial during root canal procedures. They allow the doctor to learn the "working length" of the canal without the need for expensive x-rays.

These devices work by using the human body to complete an electrical circuit. One clamp of the EAL is connected to a file that has been inserted into the root canal and the other clamp is attached to the patient's lip. The device then measures the difference in electrical impedance between the patient's lip and the file while the doctor slowly inserts the file deeper into the tooth towards the apex (end of the root). Length measurements are then displayed on the screen of the EAL for the doctor. Studies have been conducted on these handy machines and they have been proven to be almost 100% accurate.

Hopefully I will never see one again........

Has anyone else ever had this procedure done?

Learn more at: http://www.healthmantra.com/rotary/apex.shtml .