ENDODONTIC MICROSURGERY

If you have a root canal that is showing signs of recurring infection, you may need endodontic microsurgery. Root canal treatments have a very high success rate, but like other dental procedures, infection, and inflammation can persist.

Root canal treatments are usually the primary and preferred treatment option for recurring infections; endodontic microsurgery has some advantages of its own. If we decide to perform endodontic surgery, we will schedule two appointments for you.

At first, we will conduct a consultation and perform the procedure during the second. Ahmed Matri, DDS will look into potential causes and how to fix them, and will work with you to determine which treatment option is best for you.

WHAT IS A ROOT CANAL?

When the pulp (soft inner tissue of a tooth) becomes infected or inflamed, we may need to perform a root canal, which is a nonsurgical procedure. Dental trauma, multiple dental procedures on the same tooth, and severe decay can all cause infection or inflammation of the pulp.

An endodontic treatment will extract the damaged pulp, and then we’ll clean the canals of the tooth and replace the pulp with a filling material. In some severe cases, this is not enough, so we’ll need to employ surgery to save the tooth.

WHEN IS ENDODONTIC SURGERY NEEDED?

There are a variety of situations in which you’ll need endodontic surgery to save your tooth:

• We may need to use surgery to diagnose the problem. If your symptoms persist, but we can’t find anything on the x-rays, you may have a tiny canal or fracture on the tooth that nonsurgical treatment cannot detect.

• Calcium deposits can make canals too narrow for our cleaning and shaping tools used in nonsurgical procedures to reach the end of the root. Endodontic microsurgery can clean and seal the rest of the canal in calcified teeth.

• Teeth that undergo root canals often last for the rest of your life and won’t need any more endodontic treatment. But sometimes teeth don’t heal properly, resulting in pain or infection months or even years after a successful root canal treatment. Surgery can save teeth in such cases.

• ​We also employ surgery if root surfaces or the surrounding bone becomes damaged. There are many surgical procedures we use to save teeth, but apicoectomies are the most common. We perform this procedure when infection or inflammation persists in the bony region around the end of the tooth following a root canal.

THE APICOECTOMY PROCEDURE