Endodontics is a branch of dentistry that deals with the tooth pulp and its diseases. It is gaining importance due to patients’ increasing awareness of dental health, prevention, saving teeth and oral hygiene. There is a demand for a painless alternative to extraction to save the teeth and this alternative is root canal therapy. The 21st-century endodontics with all its advancements is on the way to solve the existing numerous difficulties. The ultimate goal of modern endodontics is to effectively shape the root canals to facilitate thorough cleaning of entire system with less time consumption leading to easy and effective obturation. Advanced Endodontics is meant mainly for postgraduate students. It includes the most recent developments in the field of endodontics. From diagnosis to Periapical surgery, there have been significant changes, both in concept and equipment. Recently, tissue engineering has been used to revitalize dentin and pulp tissue. Endodontics is growing with rapidly changing treatment modalities in accordance with advancements in the technology leading to the precision in treatment outcome. No other branch in dentistry is changing at this rate. Procedures from access cavity preparation, Microscopes, Apex locators, Rotary instrument systems, Obturating systems and surgical endodontics to tissue engineering have changed to an extent to appreciate the results clinically. The book in the form of Advanced Endodontics is the contribution of my vast experience to the profession.
The Advanced Endodontics by Dr R Nageswar Rao, Head of the Department of Conser-vative Dentistry and Endodontics, SDM College of Dental Sciences, is an example of that cumulated experience and wisdom. The book is the worthy successor to Professor Rao’s first book entitled the Diagnostic Methods in Endodontics, sharing his extensive experience in teaching, research and patient care.
The word Endodontics is derived from the Greek words endo meaning inside and odons meaning tooth (inside the tooth). And Endodontology is the study of the form, function, health and diseases of the dental pulp and periradicular tissues, their prevention and clinical management. Root canal treatment is the procedure used by endodontics to save a tooth that would otherwise be removed due to pulpal infection and disease. During the past decade there have been unprecedented advances in the understanding of the biological basis of the disease and the technology to deal with it clinically. The Advanced Endodontics is a valiant attempt to consolidate the principles and practice of endodontics for the benefit of dental students and teachers in the country.