What is a root canal?
A root canal is the procedure whereby a dentist takes out the dead or infected or damaged blood supply and nerve of the tooth from inside the root and fills the space with a plastic filling material. This is done by opening an access through the tooth. The end result is a dead tooth, but essentially your own tissues, which you can then continue to use.
a procedure used to save an abscessed tooth by removing the dental pulp (nerve) after the tooth is dead or has had the pulp exposed due to cavities or fractures. After the pulp is removed and any infection has been resolved, the hollow area left behind after the nerve is removed is filled in with a rubber-like material called gutta-percha. Before the days of root canals, most damaged teeth needed to be replaced.
In simple terms, a root canal is a “root filling.” The affected nerve is cleaned out or removed and the space in the tooth where the nerve used to be (the canal or canals) is filled with a filling material. The most common filling material used for root fillings today is a plastic material call gutta percha. You can think of the root filling as an extension of a filling placed in the crown of a tooth. One short term benefit of a root canal is that it alleviates pain associated with the nerve of a tooth. Another short term benefit is that it can remove a necrotic or dying nerve that is the source of infection around a tooth or infection that has spread from a tooth to another area of the mouth. In other words, the root canal can treat the cause of an infection from a long term point of view. A long term benefit is that the root canal can save the tooth and preserve the bone around the tooth for a number of years. In other words, a root canal can prevent tooth loss and its associated pro
The term “root canal” often refers to the procedure of endodontic treatment of a tooth that has an unhealthy pulp. The pulp is the blood vessels and nerves that are in the center of the tooth and root. The inside of the tooth is called the “pulp cavity” and is made of the “pulp chamber” in the crown of the tooth and the “root canal” that is in the tooth root. A root canal treatment involves removal of the pulp or necrotic debris from the tooth, filing and shaping the root canal space, flushing and disinfecting the inside of the tooth, filling the tooth with a material that extends all the way to the root tip, then placing a final restoration.
