Duration

The duration of a root tip resection cannot be given in minutes or hours. This depends on the patient’s situation, the difficulty of the procedure, the experience and skill of the treating physician or possible complications that may occur during the treatment. As a rule, a value of 15-30 minutes per apicoectomy can be targeted.

After the procedure, one should rest for at least two to three days to give the wound a chance to heal. In the first week no sports should be done. The procedure itself is usually performed under local anesthesia, so that you should not eat any mushy food or drink until the anesthesia wears off (about 2 hours) in order not to injure yourself.

After a root tip resection, the body initiates the wound closure, which in most cases can take up to 2 weeks. After the stitches are removed after about 7 days, the wound heals completely. The gums may need up to a month after closure before they return to their old condition.

If complications occur, such as infection of the wound with bacteria, healing and wound closure can be slowed down. Usually, patients are on sick leave for 2-3 days after the surgical procedure of apicoectomy. The inability to work usually goes hand in hand with the sick leave, which is determined according to the severity of the procedure. The more complicated and extensive the operation, the longer the sick leave and the longer the inability to work. The regeneration time increases due to the extent of the surgery.

Costs

The costs of a root apex resection (apectomy, root apex amputation) are usually fully covered by both statutory and private health insurance companies. For this reason, the patient usually does not have to pay any excess. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule, as is unfortunately often the case in dentistry.

In the case of entire treatment methods or individual therapy steps, the patient in question may have to pay for the treatment himself. In general, health insurance companies will only pay for the most cost-effective option that ensures the success of any dental treatment. Higher-quality procedures and/or the choice of better materials may require co-payment by the patient.

In the case of apicoectomy, a so-called retrograde apicoectomy (root-tip amputation) with microsurgical preparation of the root canals offers, according to numerous studies, the chances of success are much higher than with the old reinforced procedures. Since mid-2012, however, this therapy method, or rather the microsurgical preparation and sealing of the root canals, is no longer fully paid for by the statutory health insurance companies.The exact costs and the possible own contribution of a root apex resection cannot be given as a lump sum. The reason for this is that the price of an apicoectomy depends mainly on the amount of treatment, the materials used and the subsequent dental filling material (because even this is not always paid for by the health insurance).

Basically, the patient has the choice between different procedures for a root apex resection, as with almost all dental treatments, which are more or less expensive or, as already mentioned, the patient does not have to pay for them at all. The portions that are not included in the health insurance benefits can ideally be fully covered by supplementary dental insurance. An approximate price list of the costs to be paid by the patient can be compiled on the basis of the existing dental accounting regulations (dentists’ fee schedule).

However, since additional factors are expected in private dental accounting, it is not possible to give an exact indication of the actual price. The amount of work involved is highly relevant in this form of billing. For example, if a patient has a high salivation rate, has crooked roots or is prone to major bleeding, a higher rate can be charged.

For the time-consuming retrograde apicoectomy (asperectomy, apicoectomy) with the use of optical magnifying aids, either microscope or magnifying glasses, the patient has to pay between 50 and 100 Euros. Root apex resection can generally be performed painlessly under local anesthesia. However, especially those patients who suffer from a strong fear of dental treatment often wish to have treatment under more extensive sedation (e.g. by nitrous oxide) or anaesthesia. In these cases, additional (comparatively high) costs arise for the patient concerned, which are not or only in exceptional cases paid for by the health insurance companies.