From: Ahmad Tehrani
To: ROOTS
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 6:21 AM
Subject: [roots] Mixing EDTA & NaOCL experiment

I am like a dog with a bone at times.
My schedule changed today and I decided to see for myself what happens when you mix EDTA and bleach together.
Of course his is only a simpleton exercise, but in a way answered some of the questions lingering in my mind.
First off the mixture had an exothermic reaction that got hot to touch....~145 F.
and dang it, I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of the temperature....((
I added little by little more hypo and it took 6cc of NaOCl to change the color up to the dark red color when
I tested the 100% bleach by itself.
So the final solution had 8cc of bleach and only 1cc of EDTA.
the ratio was 8:1 to neutralize the effects of EDTA.

Folks this is what you get from a cheap lab with no corporate sponsors. but hey I had fun and on the very next
patient, found a MB2 in a second molar. I believe in Karma.....My name is Ahmad.))


















Ahmad...this reminds me of a song by Styx..."Too much time on my hands" - Joey D

That was cool, Ahmad. I did not know about the exothermia.
It makes sense, of course, when you mix an acid, even a weak one and a base. DougR

Doug:
I am a visual learner by default. Most of the stuff make perfect sense to me, when
I see it with my own eyes. Mixing all these different chemicals in the root canal
creates chemical reactions that we not be aware of.

Terry wrote a while back that he never mixes different chemicals in the root canal
because of unknown reactions that may occur. I think he has a point. - ahmad



Nice experiment Ahmad, thanks for posting! - Marga

One thing must be kept in perspective......are the results clinically significant in terms of outcome?
-  Fred

This month's EXCELLENT JOE (May 2006) article -- REVIEW -- by M. Zehnder
covers this mixture: NaOCl + EDTA.  Actually, the author does not recommend it, pointing out
that the "bubbling" is actually inactivation of the NaOCl -- if I read it correctly.
So, the author rec's NaOCl throughout instrumentation, then EDTA after all NaOCl is done and
suctioned out (my interpretation).  Regardless, this article is one of the best I have ever read!
5 stars -- a must read. - Enjoy,  :) - Judy

Ahmad, I alway thought you were cool. This confims it.
Evidence-based coolness. - :  )  Wes