Dental Root Treatments For A Periapical Cyst

Dentist Blog

A periapical cyst is an inflamed growth that forms in the mouth following a tooth infection. The cyst tends to form under the gums near the far end or apex of the tooth root. Periapical cysts can stay asymptomatic or start to cause frequent discomfort. The untreated infection fueling the cyst can continue to spread through your mouth causing damage to soft tissue, teeth, and bones.

Visit your dentist as soon as you start to feel pain in your mouth to see if you have a periapical cyst. There are a couple of potential treatments to remove the infection from the root and to remove the cyst.

Standard Root Canal

If the infection fueling the cyst is fairly contained within the center of the tooth, your dentist might be able to clear up the problem with a standard root canal procedure.

A root canal starts with the dentist drilling an entry hole into the top of the tooth. A pointed tool is then used to scrape out the infected pulp material inside the tooth. An antiseptic wash is used to further clean the area, then a filling paste is injected into the canal. This filler keeps infection from returning into the root canal. An artificial tooth segment called a crown is then bonded over the tooth to close the hole.

Clearing up the infection should dry up the supplying fuel for the cyst. The cyst will then clear up on its own.

Apicoectomy

If you undergo a root canal and the infection doesn't seem to be clearing up, then there's likely an infection down in the apex. The apex is difficult to see in scans and impossible to reach during a standard root canal. To cure up an apex infection, your dentist might want to perform an apicoectomy.

An apicoectomy is a procedure where the dentist accesses the apex and then rims it off the tooth. Removing the apex makes sure that the infection can't take hold in the root end and sit inside the tooth even when the canal is closed. Your dentist will access the apex through the gums, snip it off, then close everything back up.

The apicoectomy could clear up the infection and allow the cyst to heal. If the cyst doesn't seem to start clearing up, your dentist might schedule oral surgery to remove the cyst. The cyst can be cut out with a scalpel under local anesthetic.

For more information, contact Richard L. Myers, DDS or a similar dental professional.

Share

5 August 2015

Mouth Rinses Are Not Just for Bad Breath

I have always brushed and flossed my teeth daily, but I still had the occasional cavity when I visited the dentist for a check-up. He told me it was normal to have a cavity on occasion and that I shouldn't let it stress me out too much. Well, I am not one to just accept any problem I am having, so I started looking into how to improve my oral hygiene even more. I had always thought mouthwash was just to improve your breath, but I found some that said they helped keep cavities away. I started using one every day before bed. I haven't had a cavity in two years now, and I think the mouth rinse is the reason! I created this blog to remind other people that even if they brush and floss regularly, they can always find ways to take even better care of their teeth.