If infection of the teeth is not treated, it goes further to pulp, root and finally to root apex hard tissues.
The abscess developing in the root apex, if it stays there long, is restricted by the body, and turns into a vesicle called abscess granuloma. If this granuloma gets even bigger, it can turn into radicular cyst. Once granuloma is formed, the infection in the root apex cannot be solely terminated by means of endodontic therapy (root canal therapy). Therefore, pathological tissues in this area should be removed with surgical operation. Additionally, if root apex cannot be reached through tooth canal (for example, if canals are calcified, an unsuitable canal path is used during the previous endodontic operation, there is pivot in the canal, etc.), endodontic therapy cannot be applied again.
Instead, root apex resection should be performed. In this surgery, both soft and hard tissues around the root apex are removed, so that almost one third of the root apex and surrounding pathological tissues can be taken out. In this way; healthy bone tissue is maintained around the root apex, and the operation is completed after the root apex is covered hermetically with retrograde filling (root apex filling).