Root Canal Therapy

What is root canal therapy?

Why would you need root canal therapy?

Root canal therapy or Endodontic is necessary when the center of the tooth called pulp tissue (nerves and blood vessels) is infected, injured or becomes irreversibly inflamed and the nerve cannot heal itself. The procedure requires to remove the infection from the pulp since the infection is not treatable otherwise, and it can cause pain, gum sensitivity, bad breath and abscess. This infection, if not treated, moves from the root to jawbone and creates abscess there, which might spread even more and infect other organs and cause fever, headache, face or gum swelling, stomach pain, vomiting, heart disease or stroke.

A dental abscess can also travel to the brain, and create an abscess in your brain which is extremely dangerous and life-threatening.

In root canal therapy, performed by a general dentist or endodontist, the soft center of the tooth consisted of nerves, connective tissue and blood vessels that help the tooth grow, is removed. This is necessary since the infection should be completely eliminated, that is why, the procedure is done in two visits, during which the tooth will be completely cleaned out and sealed. After the procedure the tooth is dead because the nerve tissue along with the infection has been removed and the patient won’t feel any pain as a result.

What are the symptoms of a damaged tooth pulp?

symptoms of a damaged pulp include persistent pain, sensitivity to heat and cold, inflamed gums, abscess, tooth discoloration and tooth mobility which could be the results of extreme damage, deep decay as a result of an untreated cavity, an injury to the tooth like a chip or crack or having multiple procedures done on the same tooth. In these cases, your dentist will examine the tooth and the x-ray results and confirms the diagnosis.

What is the alternative to root canal therapy?

although this treatment requires removal of the pulp, deep cleaning and the tooth will essentially be dead but preserving the structure of a tooth is the best ways to preserve the dental structure. According to the American association of endodontists, saving the tooth this way is practically incomparable, to the alternative way of replacing it with an artificial implant.

Root canal procedure

How is root canal therapy done? With the help of anesthetics and modern techniques root canal procedure is painless and it’s done while the patient is awake. Numbing medication is applied to the gum and once it takes effect anesthetic will be injected into the gum. The treatment includes three stages. Extirpation and Instrumentation: Initial cleansing. through the small opening in the top of the tooth, the infected pulp, including connective tissue, blood vessels and tooth nerve, will be carefully removed and all the pathways in the tooth will be cleaned out Obturation: thorough cleaning. In this stage the area will be covered with antiseptics to kill the persisting infection to prevent further infections. then the tooth is sealed with paste like material called gutta-percha. Final filling: Root canal filling. The opening in the top of the tooth is also sealed with a filling material to protect the canals from saliva.

Alternatives to root canal treatment

What are the alternatives to root canal therapy? Direct pulp capping This treatment, an alternative to root canal therapy, is used when a severe decay has exposed the pulp of the tooth but the pulp itself is healthy and there is no sign of inflammation or infection in the pulp. This treatment would mostly be suitable to young patients, when the exposure is minimal and the pulp is healthy. In this procedure a material such as calcium hydroxide or mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is place directly on the pulp to protect thee pulp and help it heal. This is called capping after which the tooth gets filled. Pulpotomy In this procedure the inflamed pulp except the tooth nerve is removed, then antibacterial and healing agent materials including zincoxide eugenol, calcium hydroxide and MTA are injected inside the pulp to prevent bacterial growth. After that the inside of the tooth is filled, to restore the tooth decay a crown is used. Plupotomy is done on baby teeth in children or underdeveloped adult teeth. In adults however, this cannot be considered as an alternative treatment since it can only be used to relieve the pain in patient before the root canal therapy in performed. Tooth extraction If the pulp is infected and the decay and damage to the structure of the tooth is severe and the tooth cannot be repaired with any other treatment such as root canal or crown, the tooth should be extracted. In some cases, the extraction is simple and can be done by a general dentist, in other cases, it should be done by an oral surgeon, and might require breaking the tooth to pieces to enable extracting. After extraction tooth replacement therapy methods such as dental implant, dental bridge, and partial dentures can be used to replace the missing tooth.