ROOT CANAL TREATMENT

ROOT CANAL TREATMENT

A root canal treatment is an endodontic procedure used to repair and save the tooth with inflamed and infected pulp or soft tissue inside the root canal. Among possible causes are: a deep decay, repeated dental procedure, a crack or chip in the tooth, defective materials.

The main target ofa root canal treatment is to remove all the contaminants inside the tooth and to prevent any further infection by sealing the tooth. Performing a root canal an endodontist or a dentist removes the pulp tissue within the tooth.

The success of a root canal treatment depends greatly upon making the patient comfortable. Consequently, the local anesthetic is administered into the gum line. moreover it is strongly recommended to use a topical numbing gel applied to the injection side to reduce any discomfort the needle may cause.

Next step is injection of a local anesthetic with the syringe us low the too receiving a root canal treatment. Afterwards, the patient is given a few minutes to rela and for patient's mouth to become completely numb. The patient's mouth is numb, the tooth is isolated, since the patient's saliva contains contaminants, the germs introduction into the treatment area must be omitted. In this case a tooth is punched with the rubber dental dam (a thin sheet of rubber or vinyl) with a hole cut in it to place it on the tooth. The procedure enables to exclude possible movement. Then the tooth is dried up as much as possible with an air-water syringe.

Once the tooth is prepared, an endodontist creates the access to the tooth using a drill. The next step is to clean and shape the tooth canal using a root canal file. At this point the dentist must measure the depth of the canal using a combination of x-ray and specialized equipment. Otherwise, a failure in measurement can put the tooth at risk of reinfection. The canal of the tooth is cleaned with the sodium hypochlorite, commonly referred to as bleach which is left for several minutes, in order to assure that all the bacteria in tissue of the tooth have been dissolved. The bleach is removed with the suction from the tooth. To continue, the rubber compound known as gutta percha cone is placed into the root canal. The gutta percha is packed into a tooth canal with a plugger and its access is removed by a heated instrument. Afterwards additional x-ray is taken and once the dentist verifies that the canal has been sealed a filling or crown is placed depending on the location of the tooth. Later on the patient may experience some mild sensitivity and discomfort, that can be relieved by using some over-the- counter pain medications.

To reduce the need for a root canal the patients are recommended to brush the teeth twice a day, to floss daily. to schedule regular dental visits, to avoid smoking etc.