The goal of root canal treatment is always to save teeth in which the dental pulp, i.e. the living tissue of the tooth, has already died. The death of the inside of the tooth can be caused by its inflammation or deep decay, or in rarer cases, by some kind of injury that causes damage to the blood vessels that feed the tooth. A few years ago, gum disease was treated by removing teeth. Today, however, it is no longer necessary to remove teeth, teeth with dead pulp but otherwise healthy (or repairably damaged or decayed) enamel can still be saved with root canal treatment.
How does root canal treatment take place?
Root canal treatment is performed under local anesthesia. As the first step in treatment, the dentist drills a passage into the tooth through the crown of the tooth to access the root canal. After that, he removes the living tissue from the root canal with the help of a tool specially developed for this purpose.After removing the root tissue, the dentist expands the root cavity. (The expansion is necessary so that it can safely and stably carry out the individual steps of sterilization later on, drying the root canal and the permanent, wall-resistant insertion of the root filling.)
After the root canal has been properly cleaned and properly prepared, the doctor dries it using sterile paper strips. Since in the majority of cases the need for root canal treatment is caused by inflammation around the root tip, a medicated filling and then a temporary filling are first placed in the dried root canal. The cavity formed in the crown of the tooth is also closed with a temporary filling. Especially in the case of chewing teeth, this filling often falls out before the next treatment due to chewing, however, as long as the root filling remains stably in place, this does not affect the success of the treatment.
The next time the root canal is permanently closed. This is done with a special material that, on the one hand, delays the drying out of the root-treated tooth and, on the other hand, ensures the sterility of the sealed tooth root through its antibacterial effect. The root filling is suitable if it is "wall resistant", i.e. it completely fills the cavity of the root canal. The doctor checks this with the help of an X-ray taken after the end of the root filling. If the root filling is adequate and the root-treated tooth is symptom-free after the two treatments (after the temporary root filling, the tooth may be sensitive for a short time, we can talk about a complaint if strong and persistent pain occurs after the placement of the temporary filling), the treatment is completed with an aesthetic cover filling , thus restoring the natural chewing surface of the tooth.
Is root canal treatment a permanent and permanent solution to save the tooth?
Unfortunately not. Root canal treatment is an attempt to save the tooth, although fortunately it is a successful and effective method in most cases. Since the living tissues of the tooth must be completely removed during root canal treatment, the tooth may dry out over time, so it wears or breaks more easily, and even becomes discolored. Of course, root filling materials delay drying out and breakage, and individual factors (chewing strength, oral care habits, etc.) also strongly influence how long it takes to replace a root-treated tooth with a dental prosthesis. This can be scary at first, but with great professional care and attention, after a job done correctly and taking into account the appropriate oral care regulations, the root-treated tooth can remain in place for decades without complaints.
Can't root canal treatment be done in one session?
In principle, the latest professional research and results, as well as the development of technology, would allow the root treatment of a tooth to be performed in one session. This can be especially true for single-rooted teeth. However, medical practice shows that it is much more fortunate if a few days elapse between the opening and final closure of the root canal, because it is conceivable - and it happens quite often - that an inflammatory process that does not yet produce an X-ray shadow can cause such pain a few days after the immediate end of the root canal treatment. causes, which justifies further treatments (a series of medicated fillings) and thus the removal of the root filling and the cover filling as well. This saves neither time nor money, so it is worth starting root canal treatment with a temporary filling, and after a few days of a complaint-free period, replace it with a permanent filling.