subject: Dentist Los Gatos What Happens when a Drill Bit is broken in a Tooth from a Root Canal? [print this page] Dentist Los Gatos What Happens when a Drill Bit is broken in a Tooth from a Root Canal?
A root canal is an unpleasant experience for most people. It doesn't have to be painful. Even then, a successful and smooth procedure is not exactly fun. Root canals are successful 90% of the time and require no follow up treatment.
Every medical intervention has risks and no procedure is perfect. It is completely possible, with a root canal, for a drill bit or file to break off and get caught in the tooth. The good side of the bad news is that because it happens frequently enough, there are ways to deal with this problem.
A root canal is a procedure in which a decaying or infected tooth can be salvaged by entering the tooth, cleaning out the pulp, sealing off the tooth cavity and then filling and crowning the tooth.
An endodontist, a dentist who specializes in problems inside the tooth, or a dentist will begin by numbing the patient. Usually, he or she will numb an entire side of the mouth, including the tongue. The dentists then drill into the tooth, opening it up.
To reach the bottom of the tooth and take the pulp out, a small, specially designed file instruments are used to enter and clean out each of the tooth's roots. While leaving the tooth intact, this essentially deadens the tooth.
If a bit or a file breaks off during the root canal, the dentist will do a few things. He or she will first try to remove it on the spot. The dentist will most likely complete the rest of the procedure on the unaffected roots so that all but the clogged one have been properly treated, if he is unable to do this.
An endodontist who specializes in these problems will probably treat the patient after a general dentist has closed up and put a temporary filling on the tooth. A course of antibiotics will probably be prescribed for the patient.
After numbing the patient; an endodontist will go back into the tooth. To try and remove the lodged instrument; the dentist may use some specialized tools. Some very small tools that may be able to get past the lodged bit may be used by the endodontist.
The endodontist may be able to complete the procedure, leaving the bit in place if one of these small files can work around the bit. It might not matter that the foreign object remains once the canal is completely cleaned and the pulp removed.
The endodontist may have to attempt an apicoectomy if the specialized tools fail and the pulp is not removed or the canal not completely cleaned. This involves the endodontist cutting open the gum outside the affected tooth, removing some of the underlying bone so that he or she can enter the canal of tooth from the outside.
The end of the canal is removed and removal of any pulp and cleaning the part of the canal that was not previously reachable will be done by the endodontist. Then he or she will seal up the end of the canal with artificial materials and close the gum.
The bone that was removed will usually grow back over time. The gum will be sutured and will heal. The patient will need to take antibiotics afterwards like with other procedures. This procedure will also probably require post-surgical pain medication, as it is more invasive.
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