Per your request Aaron. This is a photo of a procedure called an apicoectomy and retrograde filling. The idea here is that for various reasons, a tooth that has had a root canal does not heal properly. I believe the history on this tooth was trauma at the age of 10, followed by a root canal. The root canal was done at least one more, maybe two more times. It still didn't heal. So, at that point you are faced with the prospect of either extracting the tooth (most people prefer not to lose front teeth, unless of course you are from Virginia) or doing the above mentioned procedure.

The surgery is done by peeling (I love that, PEELING) the gums off the bone to expose the end of the root. The root tip is then cut off and a filling is placed in the end of the root (that is the kind of whitish area at the end of the root on the tooth on the left). The tissue is sutured back in place, and hopefully, the patient is in the 50% that heal with no further problems. He was.

Anyway, it is fun to do. As they use to say in school, "A chance to cut is a chance to cure"