Has anyone ever had surgery to remove a root tip? What's it like?

hi,
i had aroot tip rewmoved about a month ago from the #3 upper right molar. it only took the surgeon about 20 minutes to remove it and sew my gums up. it wasnt a painful procedure at all and i was back to work the next day. The surgeon used only novocaine to do the procedure, worst part was that needle going in =/

HOWEVER !!!!
upon going to another dentist <the one that made my dentures> i told him what the odd shape to my gums on the right side was due from <the root tip removal>. he explained that the reason my gums were shaped oddly was because i had lost "alot" of bone in the procedure. he also told me that the American Dental Association now says that its best to NOT remove these tips !!!!! they WILL eventually work their way down and out of your gums without causing such drastic bone loss. granted ... my root tip was still in the bnone and had not been impacted fully into the sinus cavity, rather that makes a difference i dunno, but i would strongly recommend going for a 2nd opinion at an "unaffiliated" dentist of the who left the root tip in your mouth.
my 2nd dentist told me that the ADA says "if you cant retrieve it in 5 minutes, suture the area tightly and allow it to come out on its own

just a viewpoint ... but we are all different

take care,
shantox

If you are referring to an apicoectomy, I have had such a procedure to "save" a previously root canalled tooth that went bad. This was over six years ago and perhaps the technology has gotten better, but I went to an Endodontist and paid $1,000.
I was awake through it, it was not pleasant to smell the bone being drilled away. It took about an hour and the next day, the swelling was tremendous. The wound never healed and I had to have the tooth removed after all.
I will never have another root canal treatment, and if the one I have left in my mouth goes bad, out the tooth comes. It is not good for your health to have infected teeth, bone. Perhaps, though, you are a better healer than I, and the procedure will work for you.

I just had an apicoectomy done this past July, for a root canalled molar that abscessed. I was given valium before the procedure along with some other drug to relax me... so the procedure didn't bother me at all. I had it done on a Friday afternoon and took the whole weekend easy at home. (I had it done by an Endodontist, by the way and it did cost around $1000)

I also had swelling afterward, and eating was a challenge. I ate stuff that didn't require much chewing and drank a lot of equate. I was very careful about keeping the area clean afterwards, since they do put a stich or two in your gums and I wanted to ward off infections.

It took me about a month before I felt completely healed. 6 months later I had my follow up visit, and the bone and filled back in the space, so I shouldn't have to worry about it ever again.

Do a search on the boards for "Apicoectomy". You'll find a lot of my posts from back when I had it done.

My root tip has been there for seven years, so I don't see how it could go anywhere. I'm having problems with suspected "nerve" pain which just happens to eminate from that point. It seems suspicious to me, but I'm not a dentist.

ahhh if its been that long and you are having some pain in the area i would say definitely get it looked at by the dentist or surgeon ASAP