[A non-healing dark area: surgical treatment or non-surgical retreatment?]

There are a lot of studies discussing success rates of root canal treatment. They show a big variety in their outcomes. Success rates are reported between 54 and 96 percent with a majority reporting a figure towards the higher end of the range. Despite high success rates reported, there are still cases showing no healing after an evaluation period. At that point the dentist has to make a decision: retreatment or surgical endodontics. To make this decision various factors influencing the outcome should be considered carefully. The overall conclusion is that when failure occurs, endodontic retreatment is the first treatment of choice. Periapical surgery is a treatment option which should carefully be considered in specific circumstances.