It’s important to confirm the presence or absence of a crack in these teeth before consigning them to extraction. There was no obvious crack or periodontal probing. The lucency was endodontic in origin only.

Pre-op. J-shaped lucency and draining sinus present.

Post-op. 4 weeks with calcium hydroxide and the sinus tract closed.

12 month recall.

In this case the radiographic image was typical of a root fracture. However without confirming a fracture visually, the radiographic image alone is insufficient to decide a prognosis for the tooth.