When traditional endodontic retreatment fails due to fractured instruments and furcal perforations, extraction seems inevitable. But must it be? This case highlights a 22-year-old patient with excruciating pain, a failed root canal with separated instruments in curved mesial canals, and a furcal perforation.
Instead of sacrificing the whole tooth, the dental team performed a hemisection, saving the healthy distal root and restoring function using a two-unit bridge. With careful planning, flap access, precision sectioning, and long-term follow-up, the tooth was salvaged—without compromising adjacent structures. This step-wise conservative approach illustrates that saving half a tooth can mean saving the whole case.
