Radiographic Assessment of the Healing Pattern Associated With Periradicular Endodontic Microsurgery

After meeting the inclusion criteria, a total of 44 Patients in need of endodontic microsurgery with persistent symptoms after acceptable primary root canal treatment or failed retreatment with persistent symptoms/periapical lesions will be included in this study. Participants will be randomly allocated to group one; conventional periradicular surgery or group two; piezoelectric periradicular microsurgery. A preoperative digital periapical and limited view cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) radiographs will be taken for each patient. At 12-18 months recall visit a second digital periapical radiograph and limited view CBCT will be taken. All images will be evaluated on high-definition LCD display with installed ImageJ software and CBCT software, and window settings will be fixed for all cases. Radiographs will be evaluated by two calibrated dentists. The excised root tip with their surrounding tissues will be fixed immediately after harvesting for 24 hours at 4 °C by immersion in 1% glutaraldehyde and 1% formaldehyde and referred to histopathologic laboratory. Fixed specimens will be demineralized in 10% formic acid and processed. Serial sectioning with hematoxylin and eosin staining will be done to locate the areas with the most severe reactions. In addition, the Taylor modification of the Brown-Brenn staining will be used to detect the presence of bacteria.