Root canal surgery, or endodontic surgery, is one of the last steps used to try and save your tooth and prevent extraction.  When you visit Parkway Dental, our dentist will carefully examine your mouth to determine the source of your pain and develop a treatment plan.  To learn more about root canal surgery in Cary, North Carolina, and schedule your consultation with Dr. Stephen Coker, contact our office at 919-380-9622.

Root canal surgery may be recommended for:

• Blocked Canals – Sometimes calcium deposits make a canal too narrow to treat the tooth with conventional procedures used in non-surgical root canal treatment to reach the end of the root. If your tooth has this “calcification,” surgery may be needed to clean and seal the remainder of the canal from the tip of the root.
• Unsuccessful Conventional Treatment – A tooth that has undergone a root canal can usually last the rest of your life without needing further endodontic treatment. However, in a few cases, a tooth may fail to heal. The tooth may become painful or diseased months or even years after successful treatment. If this is the case, surgery may help save your tooth.
• Split Root – Surgery may also be performed to treat damaged root surfaces or surrounding bone.
• Apicoectomy – Although there are many surgical procedures that can be performed to save a tooth, the most common is called an apicoectomy. When inflammation or infection persists in the bone area around the end of your tooth after a root canal procedure, an apicoectomy may be needed.
• Other types of endodontic surgery – Other endodontic surgeries include dividing a tooth in half, repairing an injured root, removing one or more roots as well as performing a root canal on a newly extracted tooth and then placing the tooth back in its socket. All of these procedures are designed to try to save the tooth.

Alternatives to root canal surgery are limited. Often, the only alternative to surgery is extraction of the tooth. The extracted tooth must then be replaced with an implant, bridge, or removable partial denture to restore chewing function and to prevent adjacent teeth from shifting. Because these alternatives require surgery or dental procedures on adjacent teeth, which might not otherwise require treatment, endodontic surgery is usually the most cost-effective and conservative option for maintaining your oral health.

For more information about root canal surgery and other endodontic procedures, please contact our practice today.