Root Canal Treatment

What is Dental Pulp?

Inside the tooth is a hollow chamber filled with soft tissue. This soft tissue is the “pulp”. It consists of a nerve, vein, arteriole, and lymphatic tissue. The pulp is living tissue whose job it is to maintain the tooth in a healthy state. An abscessed tooth is infected. We can remove infection causing bacteria inside the tooth, but not from the bone around it. The antibiotic will do that. It is very important to take antibiotics as prescribed.

Why does the Pulp die? What is an Abscess?

If infected by bacteria the pulp can get abscessed. When this occurs the infected pulp swells like an infected finger would. The problem is since the pulp is encased in hard tooth structure, there is no place to swell. Thus you will experience moderate to intense pain, and then the pulp dies. The entire tooth fills with bacteria and it must be either extracted or have root canal treatment. Because the tooth will not heal by itself. Without treatment, the infection will spread, bone around the tooth will begin to degenerate, and the tooth may fall-out. Pain usually worsens until one is forced to seek emergency dental attention The only alternative is usually extraction of the tooth, which can cause surrounding teeth to shift crookedly, resulting in a bad bite.

Why are s many x-rays taken?

Root canal procedures are “blind”. The doctor performs the procedure by feel. An x-ray is the only way to determine the end of the root. Remember, dental x-rays are very minimal compared to medical x-rays in terms of radiation.

How is a Root Canal done?

First the tooth is opened, giving the doctor access to the pulp chamber. The dead tissue and bacteria are cleaned out with very small files that go down to the end of the root. The pulp chamber and the canals are enlarged and flushed with a germicide until they are clean. The canals are then filled to obdurate them, in other words, to totally block them out so the space cannot harbor bacteria again.

Are Root Canals ever done on kids?

Usually children under the age of 14-16 require a different procedure. The root formation must be complete before a successful root canal can be done.

Why must my Tooth be Crowned?

Once a tooth has been treated with a root canal, it is non living and very brittle. If a root canalled jaw tooth is not crowned it will break from chewing pressure and often requires extraction. It is standard dental procedure to crown all jaw teeth needing root canals.

Do any Root Canals fail?

Yes. Current Endodontic techniques are around 90% successful. If yours is not a success we will refer you to a specialist for further treatment. About 5% of all teeth respond to no therapy and require extraction.

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