Hi, it's Mia Armonde here to talk to you about family dentistry. As my small family grew into a large one, I found myself at the dental office on a regular basis. Every six months, the kids would go into the dentist for a cleaning or repairs to their teeth. During that time, I took an interest in the various ways the dental tools were evolving. Tools used in the dental industry have grown in leaps and bounds in the last few decades. For example, my kids went from hearing the dental drill to wearing headphones that completely canceled out the sound. Each time we go back into the dentist, I take a close look at the improvements that have arisen since the last visit. The results are astounding. I will cover my findings on this site, so you can also enjoy the improvements to dental tools and techniques.
If oral bacteria creates an infection inside the tooth, a dentist often recommends a root canal procedure. A root canal involves removing the natural crown of the tooth -- or the part you can see in your mouth -- and scraping out the infected material inside. An antibiotic solution is used to further cleanse the area before an artificial crown is placed to seal back up the sensitive root materials.
Root canals are commonplace and often successful. But what happens if your tooth infection returns soon after the root canal was performed? Here are a couple of the treatment options.
Second Root Canal
Your dentist might first recommend a second root canal. How could this help if it didn't work the first time? If you maintained proper oral health and the infection returned, it might mean the infection is in the apex of the root.
The apex of the root is the tip furthest away from the crown, which means its the furthest point reached during a typical root canal. Failure to completely disinfect that apex could led to the quick infection return. Going back in for a second root canal with the knowledge of an apex infection can allow your doctor to better target the treatment.
There are some cases where a second root canal won't be an option. For example, if the first root canal required a full artificial crown be placed over your tooth, a secondary procedure would break that crown and cause potential damage to the root structure within.
Apicoectomy
If the second root canal didn't remove the infection, or the procedure wasn't an option, you might need to undergo a dental surgery called an apicoectomy.
During an apicoectomy, your dentist will remove the root tip to prevent infection from entering the tooth from that direction. You will receive local anesthesia before the procedure. The dentist will cut open your gums and locate and remove the root apex using ultrasonic tools. Infected material around the apex will also be scraped out in a manner similar to a standard root canal. The gums are then stitched closed.
There's a chance that the dentist will find substantial cracking in the tooth while utilizing the dyes meant to highlight the root apex. If the tooth is too damaged for a filling or crown to repair, your dentist might decide to perform a dental surgery extraction rather than an apicoectomy. The gum area would still be cleaned and disinfected after the extraction.
Share26 March 2015
