What Is a Root Canal?
Root Canal Treatment is a deep cleaning therapy for the inner spaces of a tooth. It is one of the most common dental procedures performed today with well over 14 million procedures being performed every year. This simple treatment can save your natural teeth and prevent the need for dental implants and bridges. Our teeth are all originally filled with a living tissue called pulp tissue. Pulp tissue exists in the center core of our teeth and in the roots of our teeth in spaces we call canals. Pulp tissue contains nerve fibers, blood vessels, connective tissue, immune cells, and most importantly, the cells that make tooth structure. Pulp tissue usually can stay alive and healthy inside each of our teeth for a lifetime. But we use our teeth every day and our teeth can suffer tremendous damage from a lifetime of daily wear and tear. This damage in turn can occasionally irreversibly affect the health of the living pulp tissue inside our teeth causing progressive inflammation and breakdown of this tissue. Ultimately, this can result in symptoms such as thermal pain, biting pain and spontaneous aching. Eventually this could result in infection, bone erosion and abscess formation.
Root Canal Treatment involves the cleaning and disinfection of the canal spaces inside the roots of the tooth. During this treatment an endodontist makes a small hole in the chewing surface of the tooth to enter into the canal spaces that are then cleaned, disinfected and finally filled with an appropriate inert or bioactive filling material. The tooth is then closed with either a temporary or permanent filling material.
Modern Root Canal Treatment has advanced a long way since "the old days." It is now very similar to a routine filling or crown procedure and can usually be completed in one or two appointments, depending on the condition of your tooth and your personal circumstances. Getting a root canal is relatively painless and extremely effective. You'll be back to smiling, biting and chewing with ease in no time.