Recent Advancement in the Treatment of Open Apex: Materials and Technique

Cessation of the root development occurred by traumatic injury and as a sequence of caries prevents obturation of the root canal during endodontic treatment and subsequent treatment like fixed prosthesis. Thus, the goal of apexification was to obtain an apical barrier to prevent the passage of toxins and bacteria into the periapical tissues from the root canal and to induce an apical barrier against which GP points can be condensed. Apexification has been carried out from long time where calcium hydroxide is the widely used material. Calcium hydroxide gained the widest popularity. It is bactericidal in nature with an alkaline pH that may be responsible for stimulating apical calcification. Despite its widest acceptance, it has some disadvantages including variability of treatment time, difficulty in patients follow up, delayed healing, needs multiple visits to the completion to induction of calcific barrier formation and it weakens the dentin of root. Thus, the scientists and clinicians felt urge to introduce new materials and techniques that will help to the quick resolution of the apical radiolucency and to form the apical barrier. MTA (mineral trioxide aggregate), a recently introduced material is successfully used in the treatment of apexification. Many renowned scientists and clinicians worked on this materials and got very good results. Recently a clinical study has been published showing the effects of a combined medicament prepared by mixing calcium hydroxide with cefadroxil on the resolution and formation of apical barrier. Although it was a multi visits treatment compared to the treatment with MTA but showed promising results in the treatment of apexification in presence or absence of radiolucency. Thus, this review article will expose the recently invented materials and techniques which will provide a helpful guide for the clinicians to perform apexification. This review article has been prepared from the internet information and reviewing the recently published papers and texts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cdcj.v9i2.12320 City Dental College J. Volume-9, Number-2, July-2012