Historical Perspectives on the Removal of Intraradicular Posts Prior to the Availability of Ultrasonic Applications

For decades the dismantling of previous dental work to correct inferior root canal procedures or to address recurrent dental caries has provided a significant amount of work for the restorative dentist. When coupled with teeth that have been root treated and also have an intraradicular post or dowel, the clinician was often presented with the challenge of post removal, without fracturing the root, and revision (retreatment) of the root canal procedures. While today's contemporary dentistry has the wherewithal to use ultrasonic devices to loosen and remove the post, this was not always the case historically, and creativity in this process was the hallmark of many of our predecessors.