Dental Radiography Information on Modern Dental Radiography

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The Root Canal Treatment, Gum Infection and Apicoectomy
by: George Meinig

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When a root canal filling develops a granuloma, cyst, or some other infected area at the end of the root, dentists will sometimes endeavor to save the tooth by performing an operation called apicoectomy. The area of infection seen on x-ray pictures is actually a hole in the bone of the jaw eaten away by bacteria and toxins. It contains pus, bacteria and infected tissue.

The apicoectomy surgery is done using a local anesthetic. An incision is made in the gum and the dentist invades the infected area and curettes away the diseased tissue.

In order to be able to remove all infected tissue surrounding a tooth’s root end, it is sometimes necessary to also remove a portion of the tooth’s root end (apex). This is done with a surgical dental burr or drill. The term apicoectomy was adopted because the end tip of the root is so often removed during this procedure.

Two or three stitches are used to close the wound. These areas experience some swelling for two or three days but generally heal with very little discomfort. Usually new bone immediately begins to grow and fill in the jaw at the end of the root, and after six to 12 months one can no longer distinguish the location of the infection sight. In other words, the area’s appearance is now normal.

At times when cysts or other large areas of infection are found, dentists will elect to do the root canal treatment and apicoectomy at the same sitting. Generally I preferred doing both procedures simultaneously because it was much easier to clean out the root canal that way. In addition, we could spray a disinfectant through the root canal and vacuum the debris and infected material out from the root-end surgical area.

It was also easier to get a good dense root canal filling as any overpacking could easily be removed.

In my practice I did a fair number of these apicoectomy surgeries and I cannot recall any which did not show full healing at the end of the root of the tooth, usually within the period of one year. We were not universally successful with teeth treated nonsurgically.

A couple of case history reports from my files will allow you to see how well infections responded to the apicoectomy procedure.

The first is of a woman who came home from a trip to Mexico with severe diarrhea and intestinal involvement. When a leading Beverly Hills gastroenterologist was unable to cure her intestinal infection, the patient, knowing I was doing nutritional counseling, sought my opinion.

Oral examination didn’t indicate any obvious pathologic conditions or tooth decay, but there were many fillings present. Full mouth x-ray examination disclosed large abscesses from accessory canals on both of her upper lateral incisors (the teeth next to the two front teeth).

Copyright 2006 SSLI Health Group

About The Author

Dr. George Meinig,D.D.S.,F.A.C.D. is a Founder of the Association of Root Canal Specialists Discovers Evidence That Root Canals Damage Your Health Learn What to Do.

Learn how Dr. George Meinig discovered that a meticulous 25 year research program, conducted by Weston A. Price, DDS, under the auspices of the American Dental Association’s Research Institute was buried.

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Visit: www.1stultimategumsolution.com

Edited and prepared by Sung Lee, alternate author

This article was posted on April 18, 2006

Why is Root Canal Treatment More Preferable to Dentists?

Treatment of root canals is one of the increasingly favored tooth restoration systems in vogue among the dentists. This has come to replace the older practice of extracting tooth as the only remedy for tooth diseases or decays. If you suffer from a tooth problem, you must consult a dentist, who will examine the problem thoroughly and recommend the need for a root canal treatment… Read more..

What to Do after Root Canal Treatment?

When the nerve of a tooth becomes infected, root canal treatment can save the tooth. How do you know if you have an infected tooth? Some of the signs are heat and cold sensitivity, swelling and pain, or a bad taste in your mouth. Or, you may experience no symptoms at all and not realize that you have a dental problem… Read more..

 

Posted under Root canal treatment

X-Ray Pictures Fantastic but Limitation to Find Gum Infection, Root Canal infection
by: George Meinig

Cheekbones, narrowness of jaws, the position of teeth and the formation of the hard palate make the taking of accurate x-ray pictures a challenge.

For these reasons x-ray pictures of teeth and jaws quite often fail to disclose the presence of infection or what kind of treatment might be required, contrary to generally accepted views of most dentists and patients.

Cracks in teeth are almost never visible on x-ray pictures.

The extent of bone loss around a tooth, though felt to indicate the severity of its infection, does not do so. Doctors Basker and Stern, in separate studies, reported that 85 to 100 percent of dental granulomas and redicular cysts do not contain bacteria. This does not mean the tooth itself is not infected.

When the dentist removes or treats a tooth but the patients continues to have a toothache, it may seem the wrong tooth was removed. The pictures in this chapter show how a second tooth is often involved.

Because lateral canals can contain infection, dentists have been taught to advise root filled teeth be x-rayed each year or two.

None of this implies the use of x-ray pictures is to no avail. Quite the contrary, good x-ray pictures often disclose disease conditions which should receive immediate attention if the patient’s health is not to be jeopardized.

Both pointed out that the visual areas of abnormalities on x-ray pictures are not necessarily areas of infection harboring bacteria. Dr. Stern stated that, for the most part, such visible areas are lisions that have been identified as radicular cysts and granulomas.

The granulomas are reactive lesions caused by bacterial destruction originating from an infeced root canal that opens into that area. Experiments indicate the granuloma is a response of cells to the bacteria in the root canal, but, at the same time, bacteria cultures taken from the areas of lost bone at the root end of the tooth have proven negative 85 to 100 percent of the time.

These studies are yet another substantiation of discoveries made by Dr. Price in this regard some 45 years previous to the publication of the Baskar and Stern articles.

These are numerous other types of pathologic conditions which challenge the diagnostic ability of dentists. Some of these conditions are misinterpreted as tooth infections,but as descriptions of them would require complicated explanations that are not germane to the purposes of this book, I mention them only to further indicate the number of difficulties inherent in the use of dental x-ray pictures in the interpretation of dental pathology.

Copyright 2006 SSLI Health Group

About The Author

Dr. George Meinig, D.D.S., F.A.C.D. is a Founder of the Association of Root Canal Specialists Discovers Evidence That Root Canals Damage Your Health Learn What to Do.

Learn how Dr. George Meinig discovered that a meticulous 25 year research program, conducted by Weston A. Price, DDS, under the auspices of the American Dental Association’s Research Institute was buried.

To subscribe newsletter:

Visit: www.1stultimategumsolution.com

Edited and prepared by Sung Lee, alternate author.

This article was posted on February 27, 2006

 

Posted under Root canal treatment