Endodontics (Root Canal)

What is root canal?

Root canal is a treatment to repair and save a badly damaged or infected tooth instead of removing it. The term “root canal” comes from cleaning of the canals inside a tooth’s root. Decades ago, root canal treatments often were painful. With dental advances and local anesthetics, most people have little if any pain with a root canal. In fact, it’s probably more painful living with a decayed tooth. Root canal alternatives include extracting the damaged tooth and replacing it with a dental implant, bridge or removable partial denture.

Endodontic treatment treats the inside of the tooth, the pulp. When the pulp becomes inflamed or infected a root canal treatment is necessary. The inflammation or infection can have a variety of causes:

• Deep decay
• Repeated dental procedure on the tooth
• Faulty crowns
• Crack or chip on the tooth
• In addition, trauma to a tooth may cause pulp damage, even if the tooth has no visible chips or cracks. If pulp inflammation or infection is left untreated, it can result in an abscess.

Root canals have more than 92% success rate and can now mostly be completed in one single session-except in cases of extreme infection.