What is Endodontics?

WHAT IS ENDODONTICS?

In the middle  of your tooth is pulp, which is is a collection of nerves blood vessels that helps to nourish the surrounding tooth. 

If a tooth has suffered decay, a deep filling, cracks or suffered trauma, the nerves inside the tooth can become irritated causing severe pain and infection. The infection can be identified as visible injury,  sensitivity to temperature or pain in the tooth and gums. Bacteria can enter to infect the nerves and also cause inflammation of the bone around the tooth

Success for this type of treatment occurs in about 90% of cases. If your tooth is not amenable to endodontic treatment or the chance of success is unfavourable, you will be informed at the consultation or if a problem is discovered during or after treatment.

Why do you need to have Root Canal treatment or retreatment?

If you experience any of these symptoms, your dentist will most likely recommend Root canal treatment to removed the infected pulp. This treatment aims to remove the inflamed or dead tissue inside the root and remove the bacteria. The root canal system is thorough cleaned and is sealed to prevent bacteria re-entering to allow healing of the bone surrounding the tooth and thereby preserve the tooth

This usually involves use local anaesthesia and may be completed in one or more visits depending on the treatment required. 

If a previous root filling is present, but there are still signs of infection, that filling must be removed and the entire root canal system is cleaned and refilled. 

What will the treatment involve?

The area of your mouth that I am working on will be anaesthetised and I will start by removing all the restorations in that tooth to check that it can be restored predictably after root canal treatment. 

Providing that the tooth is restorable, I will place a sheet of rubber (dam) over the tooth to prevent any contamination during treatment. Most patients find that this makes the treatment more comfortable and it is the only way that I can perform predictable treatment.

A small hole is made in the tooth to access the root canal system of the tooth using magnification, and any infected or inflamed tissue and/or old root filling material will be removed. Antibacterial solutions will be placed in the canals to clean them and remove the bacteria.

In some cases it is not ideal to fill the tooth straight away and an antibacterial dressing will be placed in the root canal system for about a month to remove any remaining bacteria. It is also common for retreatment cases to require two visits. I undertake my treatments to the best standard I can which means they take considerable time. 

The root canal system will be filled to stop bacteria re-entering, and a filling will be placed on the crown portion of the tooth. You may need to have the tooth restored with a crown and I will refer back to your dentist if a crown for this