What Is Apical Dentistry

In dental anatomy, the apical foramen, literally translated “small opening of the apex,” is the tooth’s natural opening, found at the root’s very tip—that is, the root’s apex—whereby an artery, vein, and nerve enter the tooth and commingle with the tooth’s internal soft tissue, called pulp.

What is the difference between a root canal and an apicoectomy?

While root canal treatment takes place on the crown of the tooth (the part above the gum that we chew with) an apicoectomy takes place on the root of the tooth. The infected tissue is accessed via the root tip, also called the apex, of the tooth, and a filling is then placed to seal the end of the root.

What is a apical root?

The root apical meristem, or root apex, is a small region at the tip of a root in which all cells are capable of repeated division and from which all primary root tissues are derived. The root apical meristem is protected as it passes through the soil by an outer region of living parenchyma cells called the root cap.