Patent ID: 8388345

Claim:
A method for cleaning a root canal system of a tooth of a living patient prior to three-dimensional filling of the root canal system during an endodontic procedure; the method comprising; preparing an access cavity in the patient's tooth; exposing the orifice(s) of the root canal within the pulp chamber of the tooth; negotiating, shaping and finishing the preparation of the root canal; removing the pulp, smear layer, and if present, bacteria and related irritants from the root canal system; placing an irrigating solution in the root canal; inserting an activator into the solution-filled root canal, such that the activator reaches substantially to the working length of the root canal; the activator being made from a strong, highly flexible, non-cutting, non-metal material and having a substantially smooth outer surface; the activator having an overall diameter at its distal end less than the diameter of the apical end of the root canal such that the distal end of the activator to can oscillate within the canal when the activator is fully inserted in the root canal; and sonically energizing the activator to oscillate at least the distal end of the activator within the root canal at sonic speeds to thereby agitate the solution in the root canal system.