Root Canal Treatment

When the nerve in your tooth is infected, a successful root canal treatment allows you to keep your tooth rather than having to have it extracted. By retaining your natural tooth, you prevent other teeth from losing their alignment and causing problems in the jaw. You also avoid having to replace it with an artificial tooth.

What is the root canal treatment?

Root canal treatment, also called endodontic treatment, involves removing infected, damaged or dead pulp from the tooth. The space inside the hard layers of the tooth is called the canal. The latter is filled with a soft tissue called dental pulp. This tissue contains the nerves and blood vessels that allow the tooth to grow. Bacteria (microbes) that enter your tooth through deep cavities, cracks, or damaged fillings can lead to the formation of an abscess. It is the infection of the dental pulp which is the cause of this abscess. In this case, the pulp must be removed. The abscess may cause pain or inflammation. Your dentist can detect infection from a dental X-ray or by observing other changes in your tooth. If left untreated, the abscess can lead to serious oral health problems.

Who carries out the treatment?

Your dentist may perform the root canal treatment himself or recommend that you see an endodontist. The endodontist is a dentist who has a university degree specializing in endodontics. Endodontics is a specialization of dentistry that studies the treatment of the dental pulp or nerve.

What is the root canal treatment?

• The dentist performs local anesthesia.
• To prevent bacteria in your saliva from coming into contact with your tooth during treatment, he places a dam around the tooth.
• It makes a small opening in the tooth to access the canal and the damaged pulp.
• Using precision instruments, he removes the pulp, cleaning and widening the canal.
• Then it fills and seals the canal.
• Then, he closes the tooth with a temporary or permanent filling.

Tooth Restoration After Root Canal Treatment

After a root canal treatment, your tooth must be restored to restore as much of its original function and appearance as possible. If your root canal was performed by an endodontist, they will fill the tooth with a temporary filling and send you back to your dentist to restore your tooth. Your dentist will restore your tooth with a permanent filling or crown. The type of restoration will depend on the strength of the remaining part of the treated tooth. If it is a back tooth, the dentist will likely use a crown because chewing puts a lot of pressure on these teeth. If there is not enough remaining of the treated tooth, your dentist may use a post to hold the crown in place.

Root canal treatment may require 1 or 2 visits. After a root canal treatment, your tooth may remain sensitive for 1 or 2 weeks. If you experience severe pain or swelling, which is NOT common, see your dentist.

Reference: The Canadian Dental Association