Discuss the prevention and management of procedural errors during endodontic treatment.

Procedural errors in endodontics, or alternatively, any mistake that occurs at some point in the process of root canal treatment of a tooth can be a result of factors which the operator has both control, as well no control over. For the majority of these mistakes the operator is at fault, either through lack of operator knowledge or concentration during treatment. This is fortunate in the sense that this means these errors are, in the main, preventable. Keeping in mind that dentists, being human, will commit errors at some point in their career, knowledge as to how to manage these situations is indispensable. As there exists a multitude of possible procedural errors, the areas that are going to be focused on are those which occur more commonly, and those with more disastrous sequelae. These include: diagnosis, radiography, canal access, instrumentation, obturation, tooth isolation and coronal seal.