KOL Forum: GentleWave system from Sonendo

ADVANCES IN ROOT CANAL CLEANING HELP IMPROVE ENDODONTIC OUTCOMES

What do Uber, the Fosbury Flop and advances in root canal therapy have in common? All three rely on an innovative approach that challenges conventional thinking and applies advanced technology to bring improved results.

Let me expound. The Fosbury Flop technique was popularized and perfected by American high jumper Dick Fosbury, whose gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics brought it to the world’s attention. By challenging best practices for clearing the bar and leveraging the technological advancement of deep foam matting, Fosbury created a new method and literally raised the bar on expectations. The Fosbury Flop soon became the dominant style and is still used to set high jump records. In Uber’s case, the company identified an underserved market in progressive, tech-savvy consumers who need transportation, but who don’t wish to hail a taxi. In both examples, these innovators were unwilling to accept the status quo, and instead pioneered new and better solutions.

What’s the connection with root canal therapy? In developing its GentleWave system, Sonendo identified an underserved market of patients who want to keep their teeth, but don’t want a standard root canal procedure or dental implant. Sonendo also identified an unserved market of endodontists and dentists who aren’t willing to accept the “good enough” results that are unavoidable with standard root canal treatment and inevitably leave an unacceptable level of entombed bacteria behind, primarily due to the limitations of instrumentation. The proprietary technology behind the GentleWave procedure combines three technological advances that help clinicians achieve predictably successful endodontic outcomes.¹ During root canal cleaning and disinfection procedures, the GentleWave system provides:

• Fluid optimization for purposeful cavitation
• Broad-range acoustic energy for maximum debridement of bacteria, smear layer and biofilm — even in complex anatomy and deep into dentinal tubules and isthmi
• The clinical ability to simultaneously clean all canals and constantly refresh procedural fluids

As a profession, clinicians should never accept “good enough” or let standard root canal instrumentation become an obstacle to the desired outcome. Rather than accepting the status quo, dentists and endodontists should “get real,” listen to patients who wish to save their teeth, but don’t want standard root canal treatment or a dental implant, and constantly seek out transformative technology that allows for exponential improvements in clinical outcomes. Sonendo’s GentleWave technology does just that — learn more at sonendo.com.

REFERENCE

1. Sigurdsson A, Garland RW, Le KT, Woo SM. 12-month healing rates after endodontic therapy using the novel GentleWave system: A prospective multicenter clinical study. J Endod. 2016;42:1040–1048.

From Decisions in Dentistry. April 2017;3(4):56.