You have heard these common words from nearby persons that I went for a root canal treatment yesterday. The term “root canal” is used for the natural cavity that lies inside the centre of the tooth. The pulp chamber is a soft area located within the root canal containing the tooth nerve. In a root canal surgery, the tooth nerve will be disconnected as it gets spoiled due to infection.
What is root canal treatment?
A treatment involves saving and curing damaged teeth instead of removing it. Your dentist will remove the damaged area of the teeth like infected pulp; clean it with the chemical to remove bacteria and infection to prevent further damage. After cleaning the dentist will fill the empty space and seal it that stops the accumulation of bacteria inside the healed space.
Why dentists remove the pulp or nerve tissues?
The bacteria starts accumulating in the pulp chamber when the tooth nerve tissues or pulp chambers are damaged. The bacterium causes infection which makes an abscess (a pus-filled pocket) at the end of the roots of the tooth. Other than making an abscess the infection inside tooth causes:
• Swelling that can spread up to face, neck and head.
• Bone loss.
• Drainage Problem.
What causes pulp and nerve to damage?
The pulp and nerve can be damaged due to the number of dental procedures performed on particular teeth or large fillings and deep decay.
How root canal is performed?
A root canal filling requires more than a single visit to your dentist. The procedure includes various steps such as:
1. X-Ray: Initially an X-ray is taken to know the shape of the root canal and check if there is an infection in the surrounding bone. After that, a local anaesthesia will be given.
2. Secure the treatment area: A sheet of rubber is placed around your tooth to keep it dry and free from saliva during the procedure.
3. Cleaning of Tooth: A hole is drilled in the tooth to remove dead nerve, bacteria and pulp using root canal files. A series of root canal files placed inside the hole to scrape and scrub both the sides of the root canal. Either water or sodium hypochlorite is used to wash away the bacteria.
4. Sealing of tooth: Once the tooth is perfectly cleaned, the dentist sealed it. In some case, dentists wait for few days to seal it to check if there will be no more bacteria or infection remain else he/she put some medication on it.
5. Filling: A dentists place a sealer paste and a rubber compound inside the root canal of the tooth to fill the interior of the tooth and a filling in placed to cover the hole created at an initial step to initiate the procedure.
6. Restoration: This is the final step that involves further restoration of the tooth that has undergone a root canal surgery. Such tooth requires large filling and extensive decay or removal of bacteria that’s why restoration is needed.
What is the cost of root canal treatment?
The root canal treatment cost depends upon the intensity of the problem. There are cases in which a patient needs more than one visit. The more severe the problem is the more is the root canal cost.
Almost 99 per cent of root canal cases proved to be successful and due to advance technology, machinery and medications the procedure becomes more convenient and almost painless.