THE STORY OF ROOT CANAL THERAPY

A tooth is not a solid object.  It has a space in the center.  Each tooth has soft tissue (the pulp) in this space.  This tissue formed the tooth before you were born, and until now, has been partially nourishing the tooth from the inside.  Because of deep decay, injury, or gum disease, the tissue in your tooth has become inflamed or infected (diseased).  In any other part of your body, if a similar tissue becomes diseased, the body merely throws it off and forms new tissue.  However, a tooth is a unique and different situation.  Because the soft tissue within the tooth is totally encased within hard tissue, the body cannot get to it in order to affect repair.  Therefore, it is the role of the endodontist to do what the body is unable to do.  He or she must remove the soft tissue located in the internal spaces (canals), cleanse the area, and finally fill the canals with a special material so that bacteria cannot re-enter the tooth to cause another infection.

 

When this endodontic treatment is complete, the tooth is by no means "dead".  It receives quite adequate support from the surrounding tissues and may be expected to last as long as any other natural tooth.

 

For diagrams of teeth and specific endodontic procedures along with a wealth of related information, please view the links below.

 

LINK - ANIMATED-TEETH.COM

 

LINK - AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ENDODONTISTS (FOR THE PATIENT)

 

LINK - AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION (ROOT CANAL FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)

 

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