Surgery can help save your tooth in a variety of situations.
Surgery may be used in diagnosis. If you have persistent symptoms but no problems appear on your x-ray, your tooth may have a tiny fracture or canal that could not be detected during root canal treatment. In such a case, surgery allows your endodontist to examine the root of your tooth, find the problem, and provide treatment.
Sometimes calcium deposits make a canal too narrow for the cleaning and shaping instruments used in root canal treatment to reach the end of the root. If your tooth has this, your endodontist may perform endodontic surgery to clean and seal the remainder of the canal.
Usually, a tooth that has undergone a root canal can last the rest of your life and never need further endodontic treatment. However, in a few cases, a tooth may fail to heal. The tooth may become painful or diseased months or even years after successful treatment. If this is true for you, surgery may help save your tooth.
Surgery may also be performed to treat damaged root surfaces or surrounding bone.