Long-term, postsurgical results on teeth with periapical radiolucencies

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Endodontics
• Surgical Endodontics

Background:

• Clinical observations suggested higher success rates for endodontic surgery than reported failures.
• A discrepancy existed between perceived clinical success and published failure rates of endodontic surgical procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the long-term success rates of endodontic surgical procedures performed prior to the widespread adoption of modern technologies.
• To assess the clinical outcomes of apicoectomy and root amputation procedures performed more than ten years ago.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study was conducted on endodontic surgical cases treated over 10 years ago.
• Forty-one teeth from 39 patients were evaluated, including those that underwent apicoectomy, apicoectomy with root-end amalgam, or root amputation.

Main Results:

• Apicoectomy alone resulted in a complete healing rate of 82.6% (19 out of 23 teeth).
• Apicoectomy followed by a root-end amalgam filling showed a complete healing rate of 62.5% (10 out of 16 teeth).
• These outcomes were achieved despite the procedures predating magnification, modern filling materials, and ultrasonic technology.

Conclusions:

• Surgical endodontic procedures performed over a decade ago, even without advanced technologies, achieved a high rate of success.
• The findings support the long-term efficacy of traditional surgical endodontic techniques.