apicoectomy

[higgy]

I went back to the dentist today, who referred back to the oral surgeon regarding the infection/abscess and they have determined that it needs an apicoectomy with retrofill (sp?) and curretting.  I understand the process for them to seal the root from the outside...but what does the curretting part mean?  Is the recovery time for this worse than that of the original root canal?

[2 Sensitive]

The forum seems to be full right now,but I would like to pose this important question here...I'll try to write it again later because I need to have a doctor's opinion on this..

  I got a residual root extacted in October without using any anesthesia of any kind.It wasn't as bad as I would of thought and I'm so glad that the tooth is finally gone.Thank God for the wonderful oral surgeon!He was gentle and caring..The tooth was decayed for 20 years and it caused me to have a blood infection because I was afraid of the local anesthesias due to a very bad reaction with my heart( without epi. )..I will not use them under any circumstances.

Anyway my question is,If an oral surgeon can't get all of the decay out of the tooth socket,will it pose any problems later on down the line? I think I had a partial Apicoectomy,but I'm not really sure what it was.All I know is that after the tooth root was pulled out,he went in with a spoon shaped device and scraped the infection out of the empty tooth socket( yes,all without anesthesia )He was able to do two scrapings but he wanted to do four.I was feeling nauseated from swallowing too much blood and he decided to leave it the way it was.

Will it cause any problems later? Will the infection stuff that was left in go away on it's own? Thanks!

[higgy]

Otherwise, my dental condition is good.  There were three teeth that needed to be fixed ASAP, which I have done.  There remains only one small cavity in a tooth in the back, which the dentist said he doesn't think needs a filling yet.  The only other treatment needed, once this abscessed tooth stuff is taken care of is orthodontics to fix a bad bite and some crowding on the bottom.

[mike1105]

recovery is a bit more than for a root canal since an incision is made -- but it's not horrible if uncomplicated.

[mike1105]

curretting refers to scooping out the granulation tissue (ie the gunky stuff that is the abcess). apicoectomies don't always work. at some point, depending on your overall dental condition, it may be wiser to extract the tooth and replace it with a bridge or implant.  ask your dentist about this.

[Matthew Baron, D.M.D.]

They will seal the root canal from the root apex and clean out any infection.  Recovery time is not too bad, similar to minor periodontal treatments.