Well that's not entirely true..with sedation allowing thorough intra oral examinations and digital x rays providing wonderful images, amongst other diagnostic tools available, we are much more equipped pre surgery to deal with the job in hand.
However when this dysplastic, necrotic, smelly tooth was extracted and shown to the owner.. we weren't prepared for her reaction. " It looks like a boot"
Yes it does, but why?? Nature has tried very hard to wall the infection off with cement, one of the dental components of the tooth, making it bulbous, enlarged and thus much more difficult to extract. The root end of the tooth naturally is narrower than the top/occlusal surface, but when cementomas are formed in response to a diseased tooth, the bottom end becomes disfigured and can make an extraction quite difficult.
Isn't nature remarkable??