Procedures
- Why Do I Need a Root Canal?
- Diagnosis
- Root Canal Treatment
- Root Canal Retreatment
- Surgical Root Canal Treatment
Surgical Root Canal Treatment
Occasionally, a tooth can not be saved with nonsurgical root canal procedure. Usually, a tooth that has undergone a root canal can last the rest of your life and never need further endodontic treatment. However, in a few cases, a tooth may not heal or become infected. A tooth may become painful or diseased months or even years after successful treatment. If this is true for you, surgery may help save your tooth. The most common surgical procedure performed to save a tooth is an apicoectomy.
What is an Apicoectomy?
In this procedure, the endodontist opens the gum tissue near the tooth to see the underlying bone and to remove any inflamed or infected tissue. The very end of the root is also removed. A small filling may be placed in the root to seal the end of the root canal, and a few stitches or sutures are placed in the gingiva to help the tissue heal properly. Over a period of months, the bone heals around the end of the root.