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Dental Tribune U.S. Edition No. 12, 2016

DECEMBER 2016 — Vol. 11, No. 4 www.dental-tribune.com ENDO TRIBUNE The World’s Endodontic Newspaper · U.S. Edition ” See BARRINGTON, page B2 Dr. Craig Barrington uses oil immersion oblique illumination light microscopy to capture high-resolution images of root canal anatomy. Photos/Provided by Craig Barrington, DDS Craig Barrington, DDS, discusses his technique for capturing high- definition images By Fred Michmershuizen, Managing Editor With his high-definition photography of complex root canal systems, Dr. Craig Barrington, who practices dentistry in Waxahachie, Texas, is developing quite a name for himself. Just check out his pres- ence on Facebook, at craiggbarringtondds. In an interview with Endo Tribune, Bar- rington talks about how he captures these high-definition endodontic images and how he uses them to increase his knowl- edge and help improve the level of care he provides to his patients. Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your dental practice. I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas Health Science Cen- ter in San Antonio in 1996. I am a general dentist in Waxahachie, Texas. I have been in my current location for 20 years. What do you like best about practicing dentistry? I most enjoy the science, the biology and having a front-row seat in and around the ability to interact with, affect and watch the human body function and heal. I appreciate the ability to solve problems and the ability to work on problems that are yet to be solved. I like being a part of a “past, present and future” continuum that is the overall profession of dentistry. I enjoy having the ability to affect an in- dividual person, from patient to fellow practitioner to dental student, all the way up to having the ability to have a positive effect on humanity across the globe. Who influenced you most in your career? First, I would thank Dr. Joel B. Alexander. He was an endodontic professor when I was in dental school who encouraged and taught the value of recalling your cases in order to assess your treatment outcomes. Secondly, I would thank Dr. Terry Pannkuk. After much awareness, pur- suit of and concentration on the topic of ‘The immense variability of human tooth anatomy’ mentorship, I certainly believe he is the best doctor alive today. He has done much for our profession from a philosophical standpoint to the actualities of clinical health care. He sees the value in this tooth clearing and diaphonization project I am involved in and consistently has provided more support and encouragement than anyone else. He has kept me motivated even if it is just by simply saying, “Wow, that result is amazing.” I can’t say enough about what he has done for me personally or in my career as my friend and mentor. I continue to learn from him daily, and I hope that somewhere along the way, I reciprocate some of the support he has given me over the years. You have become known for your high- definition photography of the root canal anatomy. How did you become interested in this area? That too goes back to Dr. Alexander and Dr. Pannkuk. Both of these doctors influ- enced me to recall my work in endodon- tics and truly take a scientific approach to the question of whether endodontics actually works and whether it actually works in my hands. After recalling many of my own cases, I started to see failures and problems that I was not satisfied with. I started to postoperatively evalu- ate my work and found that there were clinical aspects I could change to im- prove my outcomes. It was via the inter- net that I met Dr. Arnaldo Casteallucci. After the interactions we had, I saw the cover of his textbook. The tooth on the cover put me in awe. This was the first “cleared tooth” I had ever seen. It is from there that my inter- est in clearing teeth originated. I just had to figure out what was going on and how and why it worked. Fifteen years later, I am still manipulating processes in the diaphonization of human teeth in search of the “answers.” I have a patent pending in the clearing process, and the knowl- edge it has provided has become one of the most valuable tools in pre-operative and post-operative evaluation of the in- ternal anatomy of human teeth. Can you tell our readers a little bit about how you go about capturing these imag- es? It must take some technical skill. The photography is actually not difficult. It is oil immersion oblique illumination light microscopy, which has been done in histology labs for years. It is, however, a new realization in this area for dentist- ry. In dentistry, we are familiar with the study of microscopic histologic sections. Teeth, on the other hand, are gross histo- logic specimens that can understandably be seen via the naked eye; however, view- ing of the internal anatomic structures is greatly enhanced with microscopic evalu- ation. Any photographs of the teeth I work with are simply obtained through my “artistic” arrangement of the specimen in either a visually interesting position or in what I would consider an educational in- ET_2016_04_GNY_2016.indd 1 11/11/16 3:59 PM ET_2016_04_GNY_2016.indd 111/11/163:59 PM

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