dental surgery

Endodontic retreatment: It is necessary?

endodontic retreatment

Root canal treatment is recommended by your dentist when your tooth gives you too much discomfort but the crown is still intact. It is not a simple procedure and it would require the services and expertise of an endodontist to make it successful. But what if your root canal treatment fails? CP Dental, with their dental practice located near Greenslopes, QLD, will suggest doing endodontic retreatment. Let us now find out how a root canal can fail, and how endodontic retreatment can fix a failed root canal treatment.

 

Why do you need a root canal procedure?

As mentioned earlier, there are instances where infection of the tooth from the inside elicits pain and discomfort while the crown is still intact. So dentists would recommend dealing with the infection from the inside without needing to extract your tooth. This is where root canal treatment is utilized. Under anesthesia, the tooth pulp gets removed and the insides filed and disinfected, then the sealant is used to fill the space inside so that no further bacterial infection can happen.

 

How can a root canal treatment fail?

Getting a root canal is a very meticulous process, but even the most careful professional can sometimes miss some points during or after the procedure. For instance, there might be some part of the tooth that retained some parts of the decayed pulp or a narrow canal was undetected and remained infected after sealing the tooth cavity. There are also instances where the doctor opts to wait maybe a week before putting on a permanent filling because he is still monitoring any presence of the bacteria to make sure he eradicated all of it. However, during the process, new bacteria get introduced and contaminates the root canal. On the other hand, a successful root canal-treated tooth can also break after a few years and becomes vulnerable to new infection. These instances may warrant an endodontic retreatment.

 

What happens during the endodontic retreatment?root canal treatment

After a comprehensive consultation with your endodontist in regard to your options and you both feel that endodontic retreatment is the best one for you, preparation for the procedure starts. On the day of the oral surgery, you can expect that the dental specialist will perform almost the same steps but instead f removing decayed pulp, he is removing the failed sealants and fillings that he has placed on your tooth. If you are one of those patients who made use of a crown, the crown may first be removed and replaced after the surgery.

Your dentists will again file the inside of your tooth to remove all the filling and sealant materials that may be compromised. Now, a temporary filling will be placed to seal the hole and prevent new bacteria from invading the canals. If your dentist determines that there are narrow canals that he is unable to address, additional endodontic surgery may be required to allow the cleaning from the opposite end of the tooth (the roots) so that all canals get cleaned.

 

Is endodontic retreatment the best procedure to address a failed root canal?

The answer to this question would always rely on your own condition and the determination of your dentist. No two patients have the exact same condition, so your endodontist can be the most reliable person to ask if retreatment is the only way for you to solve your dental problem. If your dentist determines that even retreatment cannot save your tooth, the last resort would be to extract the decayed tooth so that the neighboring teeth may be spared from the spread of decay and infection.

 

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