Well, we have all had the chance to view many radiographs. I love the fact that when I began dentistry the digital world was only briefly imagined and not yet realized. We would develop and fix images on film, some of us still do.
This post encourages the requirement for a thorough oral history and exam!
This patient presented with acute odontogenic symptoms for the last 12 hours.
A complete battery of endodontic testing was completed with the salient symptom duplicated in the chair utilizing percussion sensitivity testing. The 2nd molar crown had been cemented 8 months ago.
If a clinician were to assign too much credibility from radiographic images, they can have unpredictable results.
1st Axial view
Coronal view
2nd Axial view
Final Treatment
Working Radiograph
Final Radiograph
Look which tooth turned out to be the “Culprit”?
Yes, they where advised to have an endodontic reevaluation and probable retreatment down the road.
We saw this patient for a one-week follow–up, and they were completely asymptomatic and happy with their “root canal result”!
I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
Want to Learn more?
Success in Endodontics 2.0 is an evidence-based online endodontic textbook that shortens the learning curve to do predictable and successful endodontics. This comprehensive, continuing education program was designed for the general dentist who has completed less than 5,000 root canal procedures.