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Why we love our CT!

Happy Halloween! 

We truly love our CT! Without it, we couldn't diagnosis a lot of our complex cases. Check out our recent complex case below. 

Recently, a 31 year old called our office complaining of swelling. The swelling was located near tooth #19. She had this tooth Endodontically treated recently. Since then, she's been experiencing this swelling and discomfort.The 2-D image showed that there was a post in the tooth. Based on past experiences with other patients, it was decided a CT scan was the best course of action.


The CT scan showed an area of low density on the mesial aspect of the distal root in the furcation. The low density parallels the post then extends apically. The CT shows the shape of the distal root as being a figure 8 shape. On the 2-D image, it is seen as being round, when in fact it was not. The dentin was thin in the furcation.

There was a fracture line at the apical end of the post. The was loss of buccal bone that coordinates with the swelling on the buccal ridge of the mandible. It was concluded that the long-term prognosis was poor.

We followed up with the patient, she got a 2nd opinion from another Endodontist that came up with the same conclusion as our office. The patient decided to extract the tooth. There were no plans for replacement when patient was contacted.

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