Root canal treatment or endodontic treatment or endodontic therapy is considered as a treatment procedure for infected pulp tissue of the tooth. It results in elimination of the infection and protection of decontaminated tooth structure from future infection.
When a root canal treatment is performed?
The common cause is infected pulp tissue which results in pain. Pulp tissue can get infected due to various causes. The most common causes are dental cavities occurring due to plaque accumulation, cracked or broken tooth due to any trauma or accident, gingival (gum) diseases, and repeated dental treatment on a particular tooth.
How is a root canal treatment performed?
Root canal treatment process can be done in single sitting or in multiple sessions, it all depends upon the condition of the tooth. Every session can last between 30-90 minutes. It is considered as relatively a simple dental procedure with little or no discomfort. Thanks to modern techniques and effective anesthesia, patients who experience root canals are six times more likely to describe it as painless than patients who have a tooth extracted.
In this procedure infected tooth structure is removed, then shaping, cleaning, and decontamination of the root canals with small files (hand and rotary) and irrigating solutions, and the obturation (filling) of the decontaminated canals. The cleaned root canals are filled with gutta-percha along with root canal sealer. Then permanent restoration is used to fill the tooth structure removed to have access to root canals.
In some cases dull coverage restoration are required if more than 50% of the tooth structure has been lost.
In what cases the root canal treatment cannot be performed?
If an individual is suffering from osteoporosis
If an individual is suffering from an autoimmune disease
If an individual is suffering from uncontrolled diabetes
If an individual is suffering from osteoporosis
If an individual is anticoagulants (the endodontist may ask you to stop taking the blood thinners for a couple of days prior to the treatment)
