Root Canal Treatment
Your dentist may recommend root canal therapy, otherwise known as “endodontic treatment” for a painful tooth.
This process involves removing inflamed or dead dental pulp, which is the soft tissue in the centre of a tooth that contains nerves, blood vessels and lymphatic vessels.
When the pulp cannot repair itself from disease or injury, it dies. A fracture in a tooth or a deep cavity may cause pulp death, and consequently after the death of the pulp it may become infected. An infected pulp may causes abscesses, loose teeth and a lot of pain, and even loss of the tooth if the infection is left long enough. Root canal treatment is the way to not only prevent the infection from occurring but also to treat the infection when it is present.
A fully-formed tooth can function normally without its pulp and can be kept for a long period of time. After removing the pulp, the root canals are cleaned, sterilised and shaped to a form that can be completely sealed with a filling material to prevent further infection. The treatment can take several appointments, depending on how complex the tooth is, and how long the infection takes to clear.
Subsequently a crown or complex restoration to restore or protect the tooth may be necessary, as a tooth is more likely to fracture after undergoing a root canal treatment. Whilst at times complex and time-consuming, root canal treatment makes it possible to save a tooth that would otherwise have been lost.
The decision on whether to perform a root canal treatment on a tooth or not is complex and depends on a variety of factors. To find out more about your dental treatment options we encourage you to speak to your dentist.