Few dental diagnoses generate as much confusion as root resorption. Patients hear that their body is dissolving its own tooth and reasonably want to know why, how fast, and whether the tooth can be saved. At our Manhattan office in the Flatiron District, our endodontists answer those questions with precise imaging, straight talk, and treatment matched exactly to the type of resorption involved.

The biology is genuinely strange. Specialized cells called odontoclasts, close cousins of the cells that dissolved your baby teeth on schedule, activate against a permanent tooth. When they work from the inside of the canal outward, the condition is internal resorption, usually driven by chronically inflamed pulp. When they attack the outer root surface, often just below the gumline, it is external or invasive cervical resorption, frequently linked to past trauma, orthodontics, or grinding, though many cases arise without any clear cause.

What every form shares is stealth. Resorption rarely hurts until it is advanced, and most Manhattan patients we treat learned of their condition from a routine X ray rather than a symptom. That accidental discovery is actually good fortune, because the interval between detection and treatment is the single biggest factor in whether the tooth survives.

What can you expect during resorption care at our Manhattan office?

Diagnosis comes first and it comes in three dimensions. At 37 West 17th Street we use advanced imaging to map the defect's exact size, depth, and relationship to the canal and the gum, because that map determines everything: whether the tooth is treatable, which approach will work, and what the honest prognosis is. If a tooth cannot be predictably saved, we will tell you so before any treatment begins.

For internal resorption, root canal therapy removes the inflamed tissue fueling the process and fills the defect from within. For cervical and external resorption, we typically access the lesion directly, remove every trace of resorptive tissue under the microscope, and rebuild the lost structure with biocompatible restorative material. Both approaches are performed under local anesthesia with the same comfort standards as any procedure in our office.

Afterward we place the tooth on an imaging follow up schedule, since verified arrest of the resorption is the true endpoint of treatment. We share every scan and finding with your general dentist so your whole care team stays aligned.