Root Canal Treatment
ROOT CANAL TREATMENT
Your teeth are meant to last a lifetime. If your tooth becomes diseased or injured, it can often be saved through root canal therapy.
The root canals of our teeth contain the dental pulp, which is made up of nerves and blood vessels and extends all the way to the tip of each root. When the pulp tissue becomes infected or inflamed, treatment is needed. Root canal therapy is a procedure that removes injured or infected dental pulp from the canal
General steps of root canal therapy
Root canal therapy may involve one or more dental visits. Your dentist or endodontist will perform the necessary steps to save your tooth:
- Your tooth is numbed for your comfort.
- An opening is made through the crown of the tooth into the pulp chamber. Your tooth’s pulp is removed from the pulp chamber and the canal of each root of the tooth. Each root canal is cleaned, shaped and disinfected so that it can be filled.
- The treated root canals are filled with a rubber-like material to seal them.
- A temporary filling is placed in your tooth to prevent infection of the root canals.
- Finally, your dentist removes the temporary filling and restores the tooth with a crown or a permanent filling to recover its function and shape and improve the way it looks.
- For your root canal treatment to be successful, it is very important that you follow instructions from your dental team and attend all of your follow-up appointments.
