APICOECTOMY
Usually, a tooth that has had RCT (root canal treatment) can last the rest of your life and never need further endodontic treatment. However, sometimes RCT is not sufficient to save the tooth.
In the following situations, endodontic surgery will be recommended to save your tooth:
- Occasionally a tooth may fail to heal, or become painful or diseased months or even years after successful RCT.
- If you have persistent symptoms after RCT, but no problems appear on your x-ray, your tooth may have a tiny fracture or a canal that could not be detected during RCT treatment. In this case, the endodontist will examine the root of your tooth to find the problem and treat it through surgery.
- Calcification (calcium deposits) can sometimes make a canal too narrow for the cleaning and shaping instruments used in nonsurgical RCT to reach the end of the root. The surgery will clean and seal the remainder of the canal.
- When inflammation or infection persists in the bony area around the end of your tooth after a RCT procedure.
- Surgery may also be performed to treat damaged root surfaces or surrounding bone.
Apicoectomy Procedure
- The endodontist will open the gum tissue near the tooth to expose the underlying bone and to remove any inflammation or infected tissue.
- The very end of the root is also removed.
- A small filling may also be placed to seal the end of the oral canal, and a few stitches (sutures) are placed in the gum to help the tissue heal properly.
- Over a period of months, the bone heals around the end of the root.
Extraction is the last option after trying every procedure to save the tooth. The extracted tooth may then be replaced with an implant, bridge, or a removable partial denture to restore the chewing function and to prevent adjacent teeth from shifting.
