Learn about your teeth and gums and how to keep them healthy in "bite size" articles.This is going to make you Smile.. Healthy!!!

What is a root canal treatment?

A tooth has two parts. A crown and a root.
The crown is made up of enamel , dentin and pulp in the inside. The root is made of cementum, dentin and pulp. The pulp is the tissue that supplies blood to the tooth and detects pain. Decay may occur in the enamel, and spread to dentin. From the dentin , it may spread to the pulp. From the pulp in the crown, it may go down to the pulp in the root.



Now, the tooth is held to the jaw bones by means of a tissue called the periodontal ligament. The infection from the tooth , when it reaches the periodontal ligament, starts to destroy the bone and causes inflammation of this tissue. When this happens, you start getting pain when you bite on the tooth. This is when most people see a dentist.
Now, your dentist will give you an option of RCT if enough crown is left that can be restored. If the whole of your crown is gone, and only the root remains, you may have to extract the root.

Now let us see what is done in the root canal treatment.

First, the dentist removes all the decayed tissue in your tooth and then goes on till he or she reaches the pulp. Now, he removes the infected pulp. Next he washes the root canal thoroughly with medicament to remove all infected material and bacteria. Next, the root canal will be filled with a soft rubbery material called Gutta Percha. This is done to prevent bacteria from the mouth entering the canal and reaching the the periodontal ligament.

Now that all the infection is removed, the periodontal ligament heals naturally.





Since a tooth is brittle after root canal treatment , it is necessary to wear an artificial crown over that.

And there, you saved your tooth that was infected so badly.. Hope this bit of knowledge helped you! Keep smiling then .. and keep it healthy!!!!

10 comments:

  1. Root canal treatment is done when there is no chance of tooth to be saved, and the patient doesn’t want it to be extracted although decayed. It is done to kill the vitality of the tooth and then filling it with mechanical components, and placing a cap over it.
    The procedure involves the removal of the nervous elements of the tooth which have been infected or decayed already due to microbial action or any physical pressures.
    Root canal Treatment

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  2. Thank for the Info. It has been most helpful for the procedure to follow for me.

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  3. After a root canal the main symptom has vanished (extreme sensitivity to cold or heat) but now a lesser pain sensitive to pressure such as chewing has surfaced. What might be the cause of this? Might it be something that would correct itself with time?

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  4. u havent mentioned if u have placed a crown on the tooth that is root filled. if yes, there might b sme high points on the crown.. if not, there might b high points on the tooth. ask ur dentist to give u occlusal relief for that particular tooth.

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  5. No crown yet. Just a temporary filling by the endondonticst before returning to general dentist for a crown. Three roots were extracted the 1st session and resulted in no lingering pain. After the second session to verify no additional roots were present, a temporary filling (cotton) was placed in canal and after returning home I noticed a pain when softly grinding my teeth.

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  6. yeah, just ask ur dentist to provide occlusal relief for that single tooth .. he will grind it a little to prevent it from contactign the upper teeth

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  7. Thanks, I will mention this to him. He will be impressed if I ask for "occlusal relief".

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  8. u ought to tell him abt the blog .. thats the point of the blog anyway .. to bring more awareness :)

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  9. I will do that. You have a very good blog and provide a welcome service. Thank you.

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  10. some people believe that benefits of a root canal treatment don't last. This is owing to consequent breaking of teeth after treatment. According to veteran dental experts, this is not the treatment failure but rather the failure in restoration or construction of tooth. Breakage mainly happens to those who fail to get crowns. Therefore, the benefits can last long.
    Reference:
    root canal problems
    root canal procedure

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