What is Apexogenesis & Apexification?

In patients with developing teeth, it is not uncommon to find incompletely developed teeth that require some form of endodontic intervention such as the clinical procedures of apexogenesis & apexification.

Closely related to the field of regenerative endodontics, apexification and apexogenesis address the issue of a large opening at the tip (apex) of a tooth. When the dental pulp of a developing adult tooth dies, root formation is halted, leaving an open tooth apex. Attempting to complete root canal on a tooth with an open apex is technically difficult and the long-term prognosis for the tooth is poor.

Apexogenesis, which can be used when the pulp is injured but not necrotic, leaves the apical one-third of the dental pulp in the tooth, allowing the root to complete formation.

Apexification stimulates cells in the periapical area of the tooth to form a dentin-like substance over the apex. Both improve the long-term prognosis for a forming tooth over root canal alone.