PROCEDURES | Endodontic Retreatment/Revisional Therapy

With the proper care, your teeth that have had endodontic treatment will last as long as other natural teeth. Yet, a tooth that has received treatment may continue to exhibit disease or pain may continue to exist. This may occur months or years after treatment. If so, revisional therapy may be indicated.

Improper healing may be caused by:

• Curved or narrow canals that were not treated during initial therapy.
• Complicated canals that went undetected during the initial treatment.
• The permanent restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following the procedure.
• The permanent restoration did not prevent saliva from contaminating the inside of the tooth.
• Failure of the immune system to resolve the infection.

In some cases, new problems can influence a tooth that was previously treated:

• Additional decay can expose the root canal filling material causing infection.
• A cracked or loose filling or crown can expose the tooth to new infection.

Once revisional therapy has been selected as the solution, Dr. Crumpton will open your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material. He will remove the existing filling material from the canals and carefully examine the inside of the tooth. Once clean, he will fill and seal the canals. You will need to return to your dentist as soon as possible in order to have a new restoration placed on the tooth.

New Disease	Persistent Disease	Removal of Contaminated Filling
Completed Retreatment	Healing After Retreatment