Root Canal Treatment

Root canal treatment, Endodontics, is the area of dentistry concerned with treatment of the dental pulp (the tooth’s soft core). Years ago, teeth with diseased or injured pulps were extracted. Today, endodontic treatment gives us a safe and effective means of saving teeth. The pulp is the tissue that contains the nerves, arteries, veins and lymph vessels of a tooth. It lies within the dentin where the pulp extends from the pulp chamber in the crown (the portion of the tooth visible above the gums) down to the tip of the root by way of the root canal. All teeth have only one pulp chamber, but teeth with more than one root will have more than one canal. When the pulp is diseased or injured and unable to repair itself, the pulp dies. The most common cause of pulp death is a tooth fracture or a deep cavity that exposes the pulp to saliva. The bacteria found in saliva cause infection inside the tooth. Left untreated, the infection eventually causes the pulp to die. Pus can build up at the root tip, forming an abscess that can destroy the supporting bone that surrounds the tooth.

Root Canal Treatments are no more a blind procedure. The number of canals, position, shape and length of the canals and its connection with each other and the complex anatomy is visualized and evaluated by a three-dimensional evaluation using CBCT (Cone Beam Computed Tomography). The entire information gained in advance, helps the clinician to open the cavity, decontaminate and shape the canals, in order to fill the same with a medicated filling material in a single shot. This is undoubtedly the biggest advantage in single visit root canal treatments.

The major reason for increased patient acceptance of Root canal Treatments in a single visit is the reduced number of injections and reduced number of visits to the dental clinic as well as the predictability and success rate of the same.

Recent advances in dentistry shows that Laser can now be used to open the surface of the tooth to access the root canal, remove diseased tissue, clean, disinfect and shape the canal and finally fill it. The use of laser aids in root canal disinfection proving to be more promising than in root canal preparation. They reduce discomfort by eliminating the jarring sounds of drills as well as limits the need for Local anesthesia. It also reduces post-operative discomfort.

The information gathered from the diagnostic devices need to be visualized with a higher magnification and that, is the primary role of Microscopic Endodontics. At Madhav's Modern Dental Speciality Clinic, we have the best microscope from Labomed available for Microscopic Endodontics.