Difficulties encountered during endodontic treatment can be a cause of frustration for both clinician and patient. Complications such as iatrogenic perforation, ledge formation, canal blockage, instrument separation and untreated anatomy may impact the outcome of endodontic treatment. Clinicians should understand how each of these complications can occur, be prevented and predictably rectified. It is also important for clinicians to understand the impact of a specific complication on treatment prognosis and to appreciate how this may differ in each case. There may be scenarios where a complication does not significantly affect the prognosis, whereas in other situations, the same complication will be detrimental to the outcome of treatment. An appreciation of the clinical factors which determine prognosis is important, so that the correct intervention is chosen, and the patient is correctly informed of the likely sequelae.
Keywords: Endodontic complications; canal blockage; instrument separation; ledge formation; perforation; untreated anatomy.