Anyone ever have an Apicoectomy done?

I had a root canal done in Sept, I was waiting until January for my new dental allowance to get the cap and crown done...

PS- in Jan I started having pain in the tooth, and as it turns out, the root canal was bad (dentist couldnt believe a specialist did the RC) and there is an infection and now an abcess.

Im scheduled for a apicoectomy with an oral surgeon on the 20th. Im a little freaked because Ill be 6 months pregnant and unable to be put to sleep or recieve "real" novacaine...

The oral surgeon said he it should only take 15 minutes... ???

I have major fear of the dentist to begin with, although I do trust this surgeon (last year he pulled 4 badly impacted wisdom teeth and 3 molars- I was asleep and felt no pain during and had managed pain afterwards for about 3 days, all in all a good experience)

My OB along with the dentists said the infection could end up harming my baby so its not something I can wait on... so of course over all Im freaked and am looking for others experiences... TIA

(How long was your procedure? Were you asleep? What did you feel during/if anything? How long was your recovery?)

Im scheduled for a Friday afternoon, and plan to return to work (which involves LOTS of talking) on Monday..

Re: Anyone ever have an Apicoectomy done?

I had one done a couple of years ago, I was asleep for it.

I think recovery was just a couple of days, I think you would be fine by Monday for work. It's just annoying being careful making sure to keep the area clean, not rubbing, etc.

Good luck!

Re: Anyone ever have an Apicoectomy done?

bump

Re: Anyone ever have an Apicoectomy done?

Hi! I am a newbie here, a transfer from LIWeddings. Anyway, your question immediately sparked my interest. I am in the dental field and my first question is can you go to another specialist (endodontist), one with a good reputation, to have the root canal retreated?

Retreatment, if possible, is ALWAYS preferable to an apicoectomy. I don't want to scare you, but apicoectomies done by oral surgeons are often not successful. They do not use microscopes (like an endodontist would) or use MTA (which is a very biocompatible material for root end sealing). They typically use amalgam (typical silver filling material) which can corrode the bone and lead to a discoloration in the gum.

Please, first go to another endodontist and see if the tooth can be retreated. It will have is a much better prognosis in the long run. Your insurance may or may not cover it, but in the long run the tooth stands a MUCH better prognosis!!

If the original dentist really messed up the tooth, it may not be possible. However, it sounds like you don't even have a crown yet. Which tooth is it?

Anyway, please take my advice! Feel free to FM me.

Re: Anyone ever have an Apicoectomy done?