Endodontics

Root Canal Treatment

Q - What is Root Canal Treatment? Root canal therapy refers to the process by which a dentist treats the inner aspects of a tooth, specifically that area inside a tooth that is occupied by it’s “pulp tissue”. Most people would probably refer to a tooth’s pulp tissue as it’s nerve. While a tooth pulp tissue does contain nerve fibers it is also composed of arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and connective tissue.

Q - What is the purpose of root canal treatment? You could say that the purpose of root canal treatment is to create an end result where the tissues that surround a tooth’s root will maintain a healthy status despite the fact that the tooth’s nerve has undergone degenerative changes. Specifically, we mean that he tissues surrounding a tooth’s root are not affected by bacterial infection and/or irritating substances leaking from those inner aspects of the tooth originally occupied by the tooth’s nerve tissue.

Q - Is root canal painful? We’d be the first to acknowledge that root canal treatment has a reputation for being painful, but we’d be the last to agree that this reputation is deserved. It seems most likely to us that the majority of derogatory remarks you hear in regards to root canal treatment almost certainly must have included in them references to the pain and discomfort that the person experienced leading up to receiving treatment. For the average person and the average case, root canal treatment is a nonevent and not any more uncomfortable than having a filling replaced.