Endodontic Treatment
Endodontic or root canal treatment focuses on the pulp of the tooth. The pulp contains nerves and blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen to the tooth. Endodontic treatment is performed in order to save the tooth when the pulp gets infected or injured. During treatment, the hollow area inside the tooth is cleaned, disinfected and filled.
When the pulp has been injured by trauma, decay or other causes, endodontic treatment is usually the best way to try to save the tooth. Unless a child’s tooth is about to fall out, a dentist may recommend endodontic treatment on a child’s primary(baby) tooth. Without treatment, the child will experience pain or discomfort, and infection may result. Early extraction of the primary tooth is usually not advisable because primary teeth are necessary for chewing and for learning proper pronunciation during language development. Also if a baby tooth is extracted too early, neighboring teeth can shift and occupy some of the vacant space making it difficult for the permanent tooth to grow in properly.
Symptoms that indicate a need for endodontic treatment can include toothache, sensitivity to hot and cold, or if the pulp has been exposed due to fracture and the child is experiencing sensitivity.
The type of endodontic treatment that may be recommended depends on how seriously the pulp is affected, an evaluation of the tooth and the results of an X-ray. There are two types of pulp therapy, depending on the condition of the tooth pulp:
1) Vital Pulp Therapy the goal of vital pulp therapy is to preserve and protect the pulp. In this procedure, the pulp is only removed from the crown of the tooth and not from the root. Vital pulp therapy is only recommended if there is no swelling or abscess and the tooth is not loose. There are four main types of vital pulp therapy for baby teeth:
2) Non-vital pulp therapy – Non-vital pulp therapy(also known as root canal treatment) is required when there is no chance of saving the pulp. The endodontist will remove the entire tooth pulp from inside the tooth and will clean and fill the canals with a special material. A stainless steel crown is then placed on the tooth by an Aesthetic Dentistry dentist to prevent it from fracturing.
Extraction versus Endodontic Treatment for Primary Teeth
Many factors need to be considered when determining whether an extraction or an endodontic treatment is the right choice for your child. The choice of treatment depends on factors such as:
Endodontic Retreatment
An endodontic retreatment is performed if after the first treatment the tooth has not healed as expected or if the pain continues.
Inadequate healing can be a result of:
Endodontic retreatment can be a simple non-surgical procedure, a complex surgical one or a mix of both. The dentist will inform you about the most suitable treatment option for your case.
The dentist at Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead will create an opening into the restoration to reach the root canal filling material. He may have to remove the crown, post, and core material before he can reach the root canals. The post and other material are loosened using a post remover or an ultrasonic hand piece. The dentist then examines the inside of the tooth to locate additional canals or changes in the structure of the tooth.
The dentist fills and seals the cleaned canals and a temporary filling is placed in the tooth. He may take X-rays to verify that the cleaning is as close as possible to the end of the root. Endodontic surgery may be required if the canals are very narrow or there is blockage. An incision is made so that the other end of the root can be sealed satisfactorily.
Endodontic Dentistry
Endodontic dentistry or endodontics is a branch of dentistry that specializes in the treatment of the inside of the tooth, including tooth enamel and nerve pulp. If tooth decay is not treated in time, it will spread deeper into the teeth causing the the tooth pulp tissue to die. This can lead to loss of the tooth. An injury or disease that affects the insides of a tooth is treated with the help of endodontic dentistry.
There are many procedures performed in endodontic dentistry; many of these procedures are performed by Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead to relieve pain in the teeth caused by inflammation and infection of the pulp. Given below are the four most commonly performed endodontic procedures.
Root canal therapy – Root canal therapy is carried out when inflammation and/or infection below the tooth causes unbearable pain, sometimes an abscess, and threatens the existence of the tooth. The dentist creates a small opening in the crown of the tooth to reach the infected pulp; he scrapes away the pulp leaving behind the root canal which is cleaned and sealed. The final step is to place a crown on the tooth.
Internal tooth bleaching – Internal tooth bleaching is carried out for those who wish to whiten their teeth after endodontic treatment. Teeth become devitalized and stained from the inside from blood and other fluids. A peroxide gel is placed in the cleaned root area and it whitens the teeth from inside.
Endodontic retreatment – An endodontic retreatment is performed if after root canal therapy, the tooth has not healed as expected or if the pain continues. Endodontic retreatment can be necessary for various reasons, such as saliva contamination, complicated canals missed during the first treatment, crown placement was delayed, etc.
Apicoectomy – Apicoectomy or root end surgery is carried out when a root canal treatment and subsequent endodontic retreatment fails to completely treat pulp infection and inflammation. The root tip along with the infected tissue is removed in an apicoectomy. An apicoectomy is carried out using an operating microscope and is also known as endodontic microsurgery.