An Alternative to Extraction
Root canal treatment will usually restore your ability to enjoy daily life without tooth pain. It’s also possible that your teeth may have hidden canals or cracks deep inside where infection can hide. In such cases, the inside of the tooth may not be fully disinfected during a root canal procedure. When your pain lingers for months or even years after treatment, that’s a telltale sign. In other cases, your dentist or endodontist may not advise receiving a conventional root canal procedure at all. Dr. Joseph Breig can correct even the deepest root infections by attacking them from a different angle. As an endodontist—a specialist with years of training in treating tooth root issues—Dr. Breig will help you reclaim your root health with an apicoectomy in Lutz, FL. Using his expertise and specialized technology, he can save your natural tooth from extraction.
Dr. Breig may provide a bone grafting procedure and membrane placement during an apicoectomy to ensure a more predictable outcome and healing process.
No New Crown Needed
With an apicoectomy, or root-end surgery, Dr. Breig literally takes an alternate approach to access your tooth roots. Instead of opening up the crown or bite surface of your teeth, he goes through the gum tissue and bone at the root end to access infected roots directly. To accomplish this highly precise surgery, Dr. Breig performs microsurgery using a microscope and fine instruments. An apicoectomy is a delicate treatment that requires the skill of an endodontist and is rarely performed by anyone else!
Many times he does start the procedure with an oral sedative or nitrous oxide to ensure that you are comfortable. Then he makes an incision in the gum tissue to reach the bone in which the affected tooth is embedded. He then removes a portion of the bone to access and eliminate the infected tissue, which may extend beyond the tooth into the bone. After this he trims off the infected portion of the tooth root before sealing the root end with a small filling and suturing the soft tissue shut. The bone below will grow back on its own during the months that follow. At the same time, you’ll begin to enjoy the advantages of a strong and healthy tooth again.
Dr. Breig offers EXPEREL to his patients undergoing surgical procedures as an opiod free alternative to pain medicine. This injectable drug offers up to 96 hours of pain relief when you need it most. Patients may also have EXPEREL treatment if the preoperative pain is severe to ensure postoperative comfort after standard root canal treatment and retreatment procedures.
Why You Might Need an Apicoectomy
- Treat an infection during root canal
- Risks of retreatment outwqeigh benefits based on lack of structural integrity of tooth
- Or there is a large post in the tooth that attempting to remove could crack tooth
- Keep a current crown intact
- Avoid losing a tooth to extraction
