Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 9/18/2006

Question
What tests do endodontists do to determine the need for a root canal? Any special tests for cracks or fractures?

Answer
Many tests are done, including palpation, percussion, probing, mobility testing, thermal testing, and radiographic inspection. Tests that help to locate fractures are selective biting tests, percussion, transillumination, staining, and looking for distinctive radiographic features, such as a "halo" appearance.
    I wish I could explain all this, but it is at least a chapter's worth of material, and that is why dentists go to school for so long. Here is a good article, though: http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v197/n5/full/4811612a.html It will give you some insight. Suffice it to say that diagnosis is a science, but also an art. No one test is definitive, so much data must be gathered before one can attempt to make a diagnosis, and then, since there is no such thing as a conclusive test, the results can still be misleading, and result in an incorrect diagnosis. Ah, life is not easy!

Dr. Liewehr