Use of dynamic navigation with an educational interest for finding of root canals

Aim: The aim of this technical note was to evaluate the potential application of dynamic navigation in teaching undergraduate students the opening of the access cavity. Methodology: Extracted human teeth were fixed into a prefabricated phantom model in place of the correspondent teeth and pre-operatively scanned with the marker plate containing the fiducial markers with a cone beam computed tomography, imported on the ImplaNav software (ImplaNav, BresMedical, Sydney, Australia) and obtaining a 3D reconstruction. Open access cavity was performed with a diamond bur in using real-time navigation. This procedure was aimed to directly identify the pulp horns and the root canal entrances with a unique hole for each canal. Results: All access cavities were prepared according to a minimally invasive endodontics approach with the dynamically guided ImplaNav sof tware. No per forations occurred and all the canals were successfully located. Conclusions: Present results demonstrated a possible application of this technology for educational purposes in finding root canals. This protocol may have potentialities in teaching dental students to start their approach in endodontic field.