Root Canal Treatment with Retentive Posts
As dental surgeons, we are often asked to remove and replace fractured teeth with implants. The majority of these teeth have been treated with root canals and typically a retentive post. Once in place, these posts tend to exert force down the length of the root that can lead to a fracture. This is known as a vertical root fracture and the tooth must be removed to alleviate the patient's discomfort. Unfortunately, the infection that results from a fractured root can cause a great deal of bone destruction. When the tooth is removed, bone grafting is performed, often before a dental implant is placed, to regenerate the bone lost to infection.
Apicoectomy
An apicoectomy is performed to remove residual infection around the root tip of a root-canalled tooth. Often jawbone must be removed to access the diseased root tip. Should the infection persist after an apicoectomy, the tooth will need to be extracted. This procedure can result in soft tissue recession and bone loss that makes tooth replacement with a dental implant more challenging and more costly.
