It's something most patients dread to hear, and yet most are unaware exactly what is involved in root canal treatment. So what is Root Canal Treatment?
Root canal or 'Endodontic' treatment is the process where the pulp (the nerves and blood vessels) in a tooth are removed due to infection and/or inflammation. Unlike other areas of the body where the body has a good blood supply to repair damage and send an immune response, teeth have a poor bloody supply. This means that inflammation and infection often are irreversible on their own and will not completely subside until some form of treatment is done.
The inflammation in a tooth can be caused by numerous things, the most common being a very deep cavity/hole or trauma to the tooth. A deep cavity introduces bacteria into the inside of the tooth, which infects the nerve and causes pain. Trauma to a tooth can rupture the blood supply to it and cause irreparable damage. Whatever the reason, the only way to remove the inflammation is to remove the damaged pulp tissue inside the tooth ( or if the patient wishes, the entire tooth).
To perform a root canal the dentist will first anaesthetise the region to ensure no pain is felt during the procedure. Once numb a dental/rubber dam is placed over the tooth to ensure a sterile working field. An access point is prepared through the top of the tooth into the area of the nerve, and a series of instruments and medicaments (medicines) are used to clean the roots of the inflamed and infected nerve tissue. Once clean, the entire inside of the tooth is filled with a special rubberised filling to seal it off.
So in short the aim of Endodontic/Root Canal Therapy is to remove the infected internal parts of a tooth so that 1) the tooth is not extracted and 2) the patient is no longer in pain. The treatment itself, although simple in its description, is a very intricate process (our measurements during treatment are often down to increments of half a millimetre!), which can span from 1 to 3 visits depending on the difficulty of the tooth. Some cases which are deemed very difficult are referred to a specialist in root canal treatments, called an 'Endodontist'.
Here are the Dental Surgery - St Marys we are equipped with the latest in Endondontic instruments to ensure treatment is carried out as efficiently and accurately as possible. We use specialised hand pieces, electric apex locators (a device which ensures the entire tooth is cleaned out) and digital x-rays for all root canal cases.
Certain teeth, once root canal therapy has been completed, will then require a crown or onlay to protect it. We will discuss in our next blog what the different types of crowns and onlays are and the pros and cons of each.