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Can we remove impacted teeth by key hole surgery, rather than an open technique, like lithotripsy?

kmm
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S.Sunil
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    Could you add some additional context to your question, such as what you know, why you are interested, etc.? It's not clear what you are seeking beyond a yes or no answer. – kmm Aug 27 '13 at 01:10

1 Answers1

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The impacted tooth is partially or fully enclosed in the bone. Even if accessed by a drill hole to reach the tooth. The tooth is too hard to be cut up into smaller sections with any of the conventional equipments available through an endoscope.

Tooth is a composite of three highly organized, mineralised tissues. The bulk of the tooth is formed by dentin and has around 30% organic content almost similar to that of bone. A large part of the organic content is collagen a tough fibre. Where as kidney stones etc are aggregates of minerals etc and are much more susceptible for pulverisation by shock waves from a lithotripter.

Besides an impacted tooth is either partially of fully inclosed in bone. So that too rules out the use of a lithotripter.

Ram Manohar M
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