Surgical approach to iatrogenic complications of endodontic therapy: A report of 2 cases

Abstract

Iatrogenic complications in endodontics are not irrelevant. One of the most seen is overfilling of the root canal, which has a negative effect on prognosis for endodontically treated teeth. Although more than a half of the overfilled teeth heal satisfactorily after proper endodontic therapy, in some cases, such as injury of the inferior alveolar nerve or presence of filling material in soft tissues or sinus spaces, surgical procedure is more suitable and effective. The purpose of this article is to present 2 clinical cases of iatrogenic complications of endodontically treated teeth and the approach to them by surgical procedure. In the first case, extruded endodontic filling material was present in the periapical region of lower second premolar tooth causing anesthesia of the mental nerve; in the second case, extruded material was found to have perforated the cortical bone of maxilla and passed through the mucoperiosteum to the muscle fibers. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2009;107:e50-e53)