Endodontics

Root canal treatment is a treatment to repair and save a badly damaged or infected tooth instead of removing it. The term "root canal" comes from cleaning of the canals inside a tooth's root. Decades ago, root canal treatments often were painful. With dental advances and local anesthetics, most people have little if any pain during a root canal. In fact, it's probably more painful living with a decayed tooth.

Why you may need a root canal?

Teeth have a soft core called dental pulp. The pulp extends from the crown — the visible part of the tooth — to the tip of the tooth's root in the jawbone. The pulp contains nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. When a tooth is cracked or chipped or has a deep cavity, bacteria can enter the pulp. Injury to the tooth also can cause pulp damage and inflammation. Left untreated, bacteria and decaying material can cause a serious infection or a tooth abscess, leading to pulp death, bone loss and loss of the tooth itself. Signs and symptoms may include swelling around your face and neck, a hole in your tooth, toothache or tooth pain, gum swelling, and temperature sensitivity.

What does the procedure involve?

The root canal usually takes one or two visits, but once in a while additional visits are required because some teeth prove difficult to treat.

Decay is removed, and an opening is made through the crown of the tooth to gain access to the pulp chamber. Using small dental instruments, the infected or diseased pulp is removed.After the diseased pulp is removed, the pulp chamber and root canals are flushed and cleaned. The root canals may be reshaped and enlarged to allow better access for filling. Before permanently filling the root canals, they are cleaned of all infection and dried.

A sealer paste and rubber compound is used to fill the tooth, followed by a dental filling and eventual crown to make sure the root canals are protected from saliva.

We used Rotary Niti files and apex locators.