Root canal therapy is an important procedure in treatment of teeth that are severely decayed, infected, or broken. Root canal therapy can save a tooth from extraction.
The dentist will access the pulp chamber in the crown of the tooth and will reveal the root canals contained in the roots of the tooth. The infected nerve is removed and the canals are shaped using special files to smooth the walls and ensure no pulp tissue or infection is left. The canals are then filled with a special material that seals off the root canals.
A root canal is part of a naturally occurring space within a tooth that consists of the pulp chamber, the main canal, and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root. The smaller branches are most frequently found near the root end (apex) but may be encountered anywhere along the root length.
Unfortunately, after root canal therapy the tooth often becomes brittle. To protect the tooth from fracture, it is recommended that a tooth that has undergone root canal therapy be restored with a crown.
Because of the complexity and difficulty of root canal therapy (due to multiple configurations and particularities of root canal in each individual) this treatment is always a challenge for the dentist. Sometimes is necessary to refer the patient to endodontic specialists in root canal therapy.
