Description

This case-based course provides general dentists with practical strategies to prevent, recognize, and manage complications during pulpectomy, nonsurgical root canal treatment, and retreatment. It covers six major categories: perforations, instrument separation, sodium hypochlorite accidents, subcutaneous emphysema, intracanal material extrusion, and thermal injuries. Clinical cases highlight anatomical and procedural risks, prognostic factors, and potential harm to adjacent tissues and structures. This course emphasizes patient safety, early recognition and initial management, clear disclosure, documentation, follow-up, and timely specialist consultation or urgent medical evaluation.

Educational Objectives

By the completion of this course, each participant should be able to:

• Identify anatomical and procedural risks and select appropriate preventive measures.
• Recognize major endodontic complications and assess their potential consequences.
• Formulate a response that includes initial management, disclosure, documentation, follow-     up, and timely referral.

Biographical Sketch

Takashi Komabayashi, DDS, MDS, PhD, is an active-duty U.S. Army officer, board-certified endodontist, professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Dental College, and consultant to the Postgraduate Endodontic Program at Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare Systems. He has nearly 30 years of clinical and research experience, nearly 20 years in endodontic education, and 75 peer-reviewed publications. He earned dental degrees from Hiroshima University (1998) and UCSF (2005), a PhD in dental biomaterials from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (2002), an endodontic certificate and master’s degree from the University of Connecticut (2008), and an MS in Clinical Science from UT Southwestern (2011). His previous faculty appointments include Texas A&M University (2008–2012), West Virginia University (2012–2015), the University of New England (2015–2022), and UNC–Chapel Hill (2022–2025). He is a Fellow of both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.