Root Canal

Inside every tooth there is a small amount of soft tissue called the pulp or also referred to as the nerve of the tooth. The pulp contains the nerve, blood vessels, and supportive connective tissue. There are several reasons why the pulp of a tooth will die and the most common reason is deep dental decay entering, infecting and eventually killing the pulp. Another reason is severe clinching or grinding which can cause external tooth wear and then pulp death.  The pulp of the tooth can die also from severe trauma, such as a blow to the tooth.  If you allow an infected tooth to go untreated it can become extremely painful and can affect your over all health. When a pulp of the tooth becomes infected there are very few treatment alternatives. You need to treat the tooth with root canal therapy or you must have the tooth extracted. In most cases it is better to have the tooth treated with  root canal therapy and not have the tooth extracted. The dentist will have to make that decision, and determine if there is enough tooth remaining to place a final restoration.

The treatment of a infected tooth. Root canal therapy has been proven to be successful up to 90% of the time. The treatment of a dead tooth is root canal therapy. After properly cleaning and shaping the root canal with small files, the canal is filled with a rubber material called gutta percha and then a filling is placed in the chewing surface. The complex tooth and root anatomy can make it sometimes very difficult and challenging for the dentist to find, file and fill the root canal. The front teeth have only 1 root and the back teeth can have 2, 3, or more roots per tooth with a root canal in each root. If there is a need for root canal therapy in one of the roots, it becomes necessary for all of the roots of that tooth to be treated. Root canal therapy is difficult, time consuming and tedious work for the dentist there for it is expensive. After the root canal therapy is completed most teeth will require a crown and often a post to restore the missing part of the tooth. Each of these procedures are separate and an extra cost.

Extraction of the infected tooth is also a treatment alternative. Though this may seem like a less expensive treatment, in the long run replacing the missing tooth can become very expensive. The missing tooth can be replaced with a dental implant, bridge or a removable partial denture. If the missing tooth is not replaced in the future the remaining teeth can move creating a misalignment in the bite. This will create other problems.