Endodontics with a Microscope
Perhaps of the branches of dentistry that deals with specializations, endodontics is one of the more complicated, requiring the use of operating instruments such as the dental microscope and even digital imaging in the diagnosing and detecting of teeth disorders related to endodontics. Endodontics is concerned with the pulp of the tooth, the gums and the areas surrounding them and one of the primary operations performed by endodontists is root canal therapy, where the tooth pulp gets inflamed and needs to be extracted and filled. Another surgery performed by endodontists is the apicoectomy, or root end surgery, which is usually done if root canal therapy has failed. Apicoectomy entails the removal of the tip of the tooth root and filling in the root end cavity with calcium-silicate based materials that are considered biocompatible. This kind of procedure is more complicated that root canal therapy and is only done when the latter operation fails more than once or if re-treatment using root canal therapy can’t be done.
Root canals can fail if the endodontist overlooks any part of the inflamed pulp which may cause further infection of the tooth. Failing to fill the canal up properly might cause more problems as well. Another problem that can occur during the operation proper is the breaking of the endodontist’s tool inside the patient’s mouth, which could leave some metal bits inside the tooth.
To assist the endodontist in a successful performance of a root canal therapy, however, a dental operating microscope might be used in order for the endodontist to see a magnified view of the patient’s teeth and gums that simply can’t be seen by the naked eye or even with a magnifying loupe. Surgical microscopes have different objectives that offer different magnifications to be seen through the binocular eyepiece of the biological microscope. Images seen through these are three dimensional or stereoscopic, and can even be projected to a monitor attached to the microscope itself so that the endodontist’s assistants and even the patient would be able to see the actual dental surgery performed under the dentist’s view.
While performing the necessary steps in diagnosing and correcting dental problems can be done without the use of dental microscopes, it is also more likely for surgeries to be more successful if done under better magnification afforded by a dental operating microscope.
