Root canal treatment is a procedure to remove the pulp of the tooth (the soft tissue inside your teeth), clean it, shape it, and seal it. This preserves part of an otherwise damaged or dead tooth. It prevents further infection in the mouth, which could cause more damage that would require complex dental procedures.
Roots of a tooth are channels that branch out from underneath the gum line into the center of your teeth where they house nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. They can become diseased due to several reasons like decay between two teeth resulting in decay of root(s) too if not treated timely through Root Canal Treatment .
Treatment Process :-
Root canal treatment is done by endodontists who are specialized to treat problems with the roots of teeth. The endodontist is an oral surgeon who has a two or three-year post graduate degree in endodontics after graduation from dental school.
Root canal treatment can be completed in one visit if all of your teeth need root canals or it may take more than one appointment if you have multiple teeth that need root canal therapy. In either case, as long as the tooth is not cracked and there are no signs of infection, most patients do not feel any pain during this procedure.
In some cases, antibiotics are prescribed before starting the treatment to eliminate any possibility of infection during or after treatment process . Antibiotics used will depend upon how healthy overall system is and which bacteria are most sensitive to that antibiotic. Antibiotics are generally prescribed for 3 days.
Treatment Procedure :-
The treatment process consists of three steps: .
1) Anesthetic – The area around the tooth is numbed before the canal(s) are cleaned and shaped. A special needle called as ‘irrigation needle’ is used to numb the area using saline water or medication.
2) Cleaning and shaping the canal(s) – A small file called as “files” is used to clean any infection left behind and shape the canal(s). This should take about 30 minutes if there was no previous root canal done on this tooth and 15-20 minutes if there was a previous root canal completed.
3) Drying and filling the canal(s) – This step takes about 20 minutes to 1 hour. With your dentists assistance, a medicated material is placed inside each canal and a filling is applied over the opening of the canal. Once this step has been completed, you can eat or drink immediately.
In some cases ‘ Gutta Percha Point’ which is similar to rubber will be used to fill the root canals . It help prevent from infection from entering into roots of teeth by closing them off . This shape remains unchanged for many years . In other cases ‘Composite Fillings’ i.e., tooth coloured resins are used as they have aesthetic appeal & unlikely cause any problem later on in life .