El Cajon Endodontics

Good Evening, Another COVID-19 Monday has come and gone, and luckily we are all well. I started out the day with an interesting microsurgery case that surprised me a little. I am just very glad I scheduled enough time to do a great job (if I can say that)! Teeth 10, 11 and 12 all needed apicoectomies and root end fills. After about two hours of wrestling with a couple of hot spots, we got the job done. I just wish I had taken an immediate post-operative photo. Darned if I didn’t forget again. We will show you the final radiograph. It came out rather well. The root ends were filled with MTA Gray. The patient was dismissed alert and very happy. Let me add the radiograph, and everyone stay healthy and safe!

Dear Friends and Colleagues, We are back to work now full time. We are treating Endodontic Emergencies as well as scheduled patients for routine Endodontic care. We are abiding by the San Diego County guidelines and the OSHA and CDC recommendations. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM till 5:00 PM, with lunch between 12:30 and 1:30. Appointments are by appointment only. We are trying to keep Social Distancing in place, as well as wearing facial protection. Please call 619.442.3000 for an appointment if you need to be seen. Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing you and getting back to this new normal. Stay safe and healthy. Sincerely, Dr. H. Jay Jacobson

We are back to work on a limited basis now. We are treating Endodontic Emergencies per the San Diego County guidelines and the CDC recommendations. Our hours are M, W, and F, 9:00AM to approximately 4:00 PM, by appointment only. We are trying to keep Social Distancing in place. Please call 619.442.3000 for an appointment if you need to be seen. Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing you and getting back to a new normal. Sincerely, Dr. H. Jay Jacobson

Hello everyone, It is about time to get your Oral Health Care taken care of in the Dental/Endodontic Profession. We are following the strict guidelines set forth by the CDC, the Federal and State government, and the CDA recommendations. We are using N95 masks and disposable gowns with face shields for all Endodontic/dental procedures. We allow for Social distancing by scheduling one patient at a time only. You need to have a true Endodontic Emergency. That is a very gray area, but if you have an abscess and are referred by your Dentist, and have no signs or symptoms of active disease, we can treat. Our COVID 19 hours are M, W, F, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Appointments need to be scheduled with our front desk for your safety. If you have any questions, please call us at 619-442-3000. Stay Healthy and be Safe!

As a result of the recent mandate set down by the State of California and the California Dental Association, our office will be open to treating endodontic emergencies only for the next two weeks. We are following the guidelines laid down over this last weekend, which will be subject to change. Our only interest is the safety of others and the well-being of those who treat. Should you require our Endodontic Expertise, please dial 619-442-3000. Thank you for understanding. For more information, go to https://www.cda.org//News-and/COVID-19-coronavirus-Updates

Good afternoon everyone. I had a good day today with several nice patients and their troubled teeth. One, in particular, was of interest. As many of you know, the Endodontists at El Cajon Endodontics are Board Certified. This is not only at a state level, but it is at a National level. That means we go the extra mile to be as perfect as we can be at Endodontics and Endodontology. We also spend a lot more time treating difficult cases that would not ordinarily be saved.... This case is one of those cases. A very calcified lower first molar with an extra lingual root. No big deal, but it's a tough tooth to extract and even tougher to do the endodontics. Some would extract it and place an implant or a bridge. Great! If you didn't just spend $1,400.00 for a crown. So off to saving a tooth we go. This procedure took about 2 hours of working time today, and an hour and a half last week. We also took a CT 3D image of the tooth to justify and verify our treatment and diagnosis. After the dust settled, we had our result. A very happy patient with a filled root canal system. Now if the bone cooperates, we all will be happy! Take care and enjoy the weekend. Dr. Jay

Glad we had a Happy Thanksgiving and are on our way to Christmas! We hope everyone else had the same experiences. We have a CBCT scanner in our office now, courtesy of Dr. Sato.This makes treatment and diagnostics wonderful. I hope the folks imaged here are doing very well and that we have helped in the healing process. To all, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Keep coming back to share your great stories of your year.

One of our patients saw Dr Jay and Dr Sato dancing the other day and caught it all on camera... Merry Christmas everyone!!!

We just got back from the American Association of Endodontists Meeting in Denver. I learned a lot while there, met old friends, and made new friends! My main concentration was on CT Radiology and current trends in Endodontics. One thing I really learned, but in fact already knew, was that CBCT scans should be offered to all patients when retreatment is a consideration, or microsurgery is a planned treatment. It really shows the operator and the patient what is going on! Small periapical just can’t show the third dimension of your tooth. Please ask our staff when you come in for future treatment. We want the best therapy for all our friends and new patients. Have a great evening, and I look forward to seeing you soon! Kind Regards, Dr. Jay Jacobson

Everyone have a very Happy Fourth of July Weekend and Enjoy the Parades, Barbecues and Fireworks!!! Stay Safe!

Monday morning case: A very nice patient presented to my office this morning in need of endodontic treatment. We agreed to do root canal therapy to tooth #2. I also advised there may be some interesting canals present in this tooth. Upon accessing, we found five canals all told. These were instrumented, and dried, treated with BioPure, and filled with warm vertically condensed gutta-percha and AH-Plus sealer. A sponge and Cavit was placed. The patient was referred back to his general dentist for a crown. The prognosis is quite favorable. ;-)

We are excited to announce the arrival of our new CS8100! This cone beam CT machine will allow us to take 3-D images of teeth for endodontic evaluations and treatment planning. CBCT scans are now performed in-house. No more visiting other offices or facilities for obtaining needed scans!

Deep split of a distal canal: Preop PA's on this tooth #18 did not reveal any abnormal anatomy, and the pulpal floor gave no evidence of multiple distal orifices. The distal orifice was perfectly round and bucco-lingually centered. Gentle tactile manipulation of stainless steel files revealed the presence of a mid-root split of the distal canal. The canal split was visible only with high power magnification under the microscope and only after near-complete instrumentation of both distal canals. Until that point, all instrumentation was performed by feel and controlled angulation of rotary files. A distal angled PA during a downpack check of the fill shows how divergent and deep the split is. This extra distal canal would have been very easy to miss if we didn't look for it.