Root Canal Treatment

RCT - Root canal treatment

What is it and why you may need it? 

There are many reasons, why RCT is required, most common ones being: 

- deep dental decay 

- trauma to the tooth 

- partial crack of the tooth 

Our teeth are build of 3 main layers: enamel, dentin and pulp. Decay will always appear from the outside in, that means it will start within enamel, then start spreading deeper.  

Once decay reaches the pulp, in ﬂ ammation process begins, to ﬁght the pulpal infection. 

That in ﬂ ammation creates great pressure inside the pulp chamber, which triggers the nerves, and tooth becomes severely painful.  

The pressure inside the pulp chamber slowly cuts of the blood supply and tooth starts to “die”.

Eventually there will be no more symptoms, as all nerve endings, inside the tooth, got destroyed, but it doesn’t mean that infection is gone.

If the decay is left untreated, our body, in attempt of draining down the dead matter from our pulp chamber, creates an abscess below the root, where all the nerves and blood supply was previously entering the tooth. It is called a Periapical Abscess and it is a puss formation within your jaw bone.  

At This stage it becomes likely unsuitable for treatment, and an extraction could be needed. 

RCT will help to get rid of bacteria within the pulp, and remove the nerves, to relieve you from pain symptoms.

Treatment:

Please eat prior to appointment, as RCT procedure requires numbing injection, and it is not advisable to eat until numbness resolves - that will prevent you from biting on your own tongue or burning your mouth.

Usually the whole procedure requires 2 appointments, but in some cases 1 appointment is sufficient, where in others, more than 2 are needed.

You will need a numbing injection on the first appointment. On the following ones, it is possible, that you won’t need any, as there is no more pain receptors left inside the tooth, after pulp removal. After the numbing injection, dentist will need to remove all dental decay (if present) and access narrow canals inside all of the roots of the tooth.

Dentist will remove entire pulp matter, which is both inside the crown (part above get gum) and inside the roots of the tooth. Number of roots depends on the tooth. Then he will rinse the canals to disinfect them from bacteria. If multiple appointments are needed, dentist will place medication inside the canals and place temporary filling on top, until the following visit.

On the last appointment dentist will once again open the tooth, to re-clean it. Then he will proceed to ﬁll the canals, in order to prevent bacteria from entering it again.  

You might need a few dental X-rays taken, throughout the procedure, where the dentist can see if he reached access to the entire length of the root canals. Once the canals are sealed oﬀ, dentist will place a regular ﬁlling on top. 

After RCT procedure, there is no more blood supply to the tooth, which makes it brittle with time,  to prevent the tooth from braking, it is advisable, to protect it with a crown. 