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Procedures

Traumatic Tooth Injuries Conroe TX

Dislodged Teeth Conroe TX

Injuries to the mouth can cause teeth to be pushed back into their sockets. Your endodontist or general dentist may reposition and stabilize your tooth. Root canal treatment is usually started within a few weeks of the injury and a medication, such as calcium hydroxide, will be placed inside the tooth. Eventually, a permanent root canal filling will be placed.

Sometimes a tooth may be pushed partially out of the socket. Again, your endodontist or general dentist may reposition and stabilize your tooth. If the pulp remains healthy, then no other treatment is necessary. However, if the pulp becomes damaged or infected, root canal treatment will be required. In children’s teeth, there is a greater opportunity for spontaneous healing whereas in mature teeth, root canal therapy is almost always needed to restore the tooth/teeth to health.

Avulsed Tooth Conroe TX

If an injury causes a tooth to be completely knocked out of your mouth, it is important that you are treated immediately! If this happens to you, keep the tooth moist. If possible, put it back into the socket. A tooth can be saved if it remains moist. You can even put the tooth in milk or a glass of water (add a pinch of salt.) Dr.
Ellis may start root canal treatment based upon the stage of root development. The length of time the tooth was out of your mouth and the way the tooth was stored, may influence the type of treatment you receive.

Teeth Injuries in Children

An injured immature tooth may need one of the following procedures to improve the chances of saving the tooth:

Apexogenesis

This procedure encourages the root to continue development as the pulp is healed. Soft tissue is covered with medication to encourage growth. The tip of the root (apex) will continue to close as the child gets older. In turn, the walls of the root canal will thicken. If the pulp heals, no additional treatment will be necessary. The more mature the root becomes, the better the chance to save the tooth.

Apexification

In this historical technique, the unhealthy pulp is removed and the endodontist would place medication into the root to help a hard tissue form across the root tip. This hardened tissue provides a barrier against which the root canal filling was condensed. The root canal walls will not continue to develop but remain thin and susceptible to fracture.This technique took multiple visits over a period of time up to a year. Because of the many drawbacks to this technique and the advancement of technology, Dr.
Ellis no longer uses this technique.

A more modern approach is to place Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, or MTA, in the bottom half of the cleaned canal then place a bonded restorative material in the upper half of the canal. The MTA seals the canal and encourages bone growth over itself for full healing. The bonded material both seals the canal and returns some of the strength back to the root of the tooth. A tooth-colored filling is usually placed in the opening on the back of the tooth to complete the restoration. Only 1-2 visits are required.