Root Canal

Did you know that each tooth contains a long, thin strand of dental pulp that provides the tooth with nutrients and nerves and extends down to the tooth’s root? If the pulp becomes infected or injured, the tooth’s nerves die and often, without endodontic treatment, the tooth dies as well.

To understand Root Canal treatment, it helps to know something about the anatomy of the tooth. Inside the tooth, under the white enamel and a hard layer called the dentin, is a soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue and creates the surrounding hard tissues of the tooth during development.

Root canal therapy or Endodontic treatment refers to a treatment in which a bacterial infection that has entered your nerve chamber or tooth’s pulp is removed by your dentist. Once the infection is removed, the root canals and hollow pulp chamber are cleaned, filled and ultimately sealed.

Root canal treatment is necessary when the pulp, the soft tissue inside the root canal, becomes inflamed or infected. The inflammation or infection can have a variety of causes: