Sir, I write further to the paper on general dental practitioners and open drainage (BDJ 2013; 215: 611–616). Although this was a detailed and informative paper it failed to mention what the most appropriate materials required to dress the access cavity of a tooth are, assuming endodontic treatment is not completed in a single visit. I would be grateful if the authors could comment on this as there are a variety of materials and medicaments that have been advocated for use.

Authors S. Eliyas, M. W. Barber and I.R. Harris respond: Thank you for your comments. Inter-appointment root canal medication is an important topic; we did not discuss this area in our article as it was not within the remit of this particular study. However, we have the following comments: subsequent to preparation, we recommend that the root canals are dressed with non-setting calcium hydroxide and temporised with a good coronal seal; a good summary of the use of intracanal medicaments is Athanassiadis et al.1 There are a number of materials available for temporisation and a 'double seal' is often recommended. It is difficult to state one ideal material for temporisation, however, there are some detailed papers discussing the issue such as Jensen et al.2 and Naoum and Chandler.3