What is Apexogenesis and Apexification?

Apexification is a method of inducing a calcified barrier at the apex of a nonvital tooth with incomplete root formation. Apexogenesis refers to a vital pulp therapy procedure performed to encourage physiological development and formation of the root end.

What is immature tooth?

An immature permanent tooth is a young/newly erupted permanent tooth with incomplete root apex formation. After a permanent tooth emerges in the mouth, it usually takes three more years for the root development to complete (Fouad 2009).

Why Pulpectomy is done?

Pulpectomy is a procedure to save a severely damaged tooth, usually a baby tooth. It’s not always necessary or possible to save a baby tooth. But when the situation calls for it, pulpectomy can prevent problems with chewing, speech, and overcrowding that can occur when a baby tooth is lost too soon.

What is pulp regeneration?

Pulp regeneration is used to restore diseased or damaged dental pulp and to assist in healing. This should encourage dentin repair with the use of tooth regeneration scaffolding, a biodegradable substance that will encourage the tooth to repair itself. The scaffolding could be collagen, fibrin, or man-made polymers.

Is pulpotomy done in permanent teeth?

Pulpotomy is considered as a treatment for immature permanent teeth with pulp exposure due to caries or trauma that gives evidence of extensive coronal pulpitis, and also as an emergency procedure for permanent mature teeth until root canal treatment can be accomplished (2).

What is dental Apexogenesis?

Apexogenesis is a procedure where vital tissue within the tooth is maintained to facilitate continued development of the immature root. A portion of inflamed pulp is removed and filled with a bioceramic material that maintains vitality in the roots.

What is the apex of the tooth?

Most teeth have cone shaped root canals that taper from the crown to the root end of the tooth. When a tooth does not close at the root end of the tooth it is called an “open apex”. Apexification forms a hard tissue barrier at the end of the root, allowing the root canal to be sealed in a more normal manner.

Is pulpectomy safe?

A pulpotomy is a very safe procedure and there are no serious risks associated with it. Pulpotomies should not be performed if the pulp in the root (the radicular pulp) is not vital. That means that the pulp there should not be infected and should still be healthy at the time of the procedure.

Does tooth pulp grow back?

Some research is showing that pulp tissue can be regrown even in the absence of a scaffold or matrix [4]. It is also possible that new research will eventually allow the regeneration of not just the pulp, but also the hard, outer shell of the tooth as well!

When will tooth regeneration be possible?

All of your life, your dentists, parents and others have been telling you how important it is to take good care of your teeth. Once you lose your enamel or once deep decay sets in, you need fillings and other treatments to reverse decay and restore the teeth. There’s no way to regrow teeth.

How is revascularization used to treat immature permanent teeth?

Revascularization is a new treatment method for immature necrotic permanent teeth. Up to now, apexification procedures were applied for these teeth, using calcium dihydroxide or MTA to produce an artificial apical barrier.

Is it possible to revascularize an avulsed permanent tooth?

Introduction. It is a well-established fact that in reimplanted avulsed immature teeth, revascularization of the pulp followed by continued root development can occur under ideal circumstances. At one time it was believed that revascularization was not possible in immature permanent teeth that were infected.

What happens to the root canal after revascularization?

Although the outcome of revascularization procedures remains somewhat unpredictable and the clinical management of these teeth is challenging, when successful, they are an improvement to treatment protocols that leave the roots short and the walls of the root canal thin and prone to fracture.

How is revascularization used to treat apical periodontitis?

Objectives: The treatment of immature necrotic teeth with apical periodontitis presents challenges in endodontic and pediatric dentistry. Revascularization is a recent treatment for such cases as an alternative to conventional apexification.