Potential Treatments For A Tooth With Frequent, Deep Infections
Periodontal disease occurs when harmful bacteria take hold in a mouth that isn't receiving diligent oral hygiene. Mild periodontal disease like gingivitis can be cleared up with a simple deep cleaning at the dentist office. But not all oral infections are as easy to treat – and some come back even after you have received one successful treatment.
Do you have one tooth in particular that seems prone to frequent, deep infections? Make an appointment with your dentist immediately to discuss your treatment options while dental restoration is still an option. Here are a few of the procedures that might work for your situation.
Apicoectomy
A traditional root canal procedure involves the dentist accessing the interior root canal and scraping out infected pulp material. The procedure is often sufficient to treat a tooth infection and usually doesn't require further treatment. But the infection can recur if the harmful material is entering through the root apex – or the lowermost point of the root where it enters your gums.
The apex is difficult to reach and clean during standard dental procedures. But if you have frequent reinfections, your dentist might want to perform an apicoectomy, which involves removing the apex and sealing the remaining root end closed.
An apicoectomy can be performed under local anesthesia in your dentist's office. The apex is reached via a slit in the gums and specialized tools are used to both snip off the apex and sealing the end shut.
Root Resection or Hemisection
Some teeth have multiple roots and one root, in particular, might allow the infectious material in due to positioning or prior damage. If this is the case with your recurring infections, your dentist might recommend a root resection.
Root resection works similarly to an apicoectomy except instead of removing just the root tip, the dentist will enter the tooth and remove the entire root. The root is accessed through the gum and cut out of the jawbone and out of the dentin in the tooth. You might need a bone graft to fill the gap left by the root and a dental crown to repair the dentin. But the trade-off is getting to keep your natural tooth and a lessened chance of infection.
Extraction
Dentists will try every route available to save a natural tooth, but sometimes a tooth is simply too bad to save. If frequent infections have caused significant damage to your root canal and/or roots, your dentist might recommend extraction.
It's important to schedule a dental replacement to fill the gap left by the extracted tooth. A gap can allow neighboring teeth to shift out of position. And the lack of friction provided by an artificial tooth can allow the gums and jawbone in the area to erode. Dental implants are one of the most natural-feeling replacement options that also provide the most friction for the gums and bone.