Endodontics is a branch in dentistry that deals with disease of tooth’s pulp. The pulp is found in the center of the tooth and it includes connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves. It is the tooth’s source of nourishment throughout its lifespan. The most common treatment of the pulp is called root canal treatment.
An alternative to root canal treatment is a tooth extraction followed by an implant placement.
Root Canal Treatment
The root canal treatment is a procedure of pulp removal.
There may be a few factors leading to root canal:
- Untreated cavity causing pulp infection
- Trauma or fractured tooth leading to the pulp damage that can not be fixed
The goal of root canal treatment is to save the tooth by removing the infected or damaged pulp, treating any infection, and filling the empty root canals with a material called gutta percha.
In some cases, one root canal treatment may not solve the problem of the infection in the tooth. Then a root canal re-treatment or surgical access to the root of the tooth is necessary. Call our office for an endodontic consultation to learn about these procedures in more details.