What is a Root Canal? and What happens during Root Canal Treatment?
Your teeth formed within your jawbone when you were a child. As the teeth and roots matured they erupted in their particular sequence into your mouth and became functioning members of a rather complex masticatory apparatus.
As teeth form within the jawbone they require a large transport system to ensure adequate supplies of calcium, phosphate, proteins and other building blocks for the developing tooth. Blood is the body's transport system. Blood vessels and nerves become encased in the growing tooth and form a tissue called "pulp." This pulp tissue serves to warn us of extreme temperature changes to our teeth, cavities forming, and other injuries to the tooth. The pulp even has the ability to heal when injured.
Typically, a tooth that has not been injured in some way will contain a healthy, vital pulp (with a blood supply) for a lifetime. However, severe injuries or accumulation of various smaller injuries to a tooth can injure the pulp tissue. These injuries can cause the pulp to become chronically inflamed or even die and abscess. This is known as endodontic disease. Root canal treatments are aimed at removing this disease and returning the tooth back to normal function.
If it is determined that you have a root canal problem and if the tooth is determined to be structurally and strategically worth saving, a root canal procedure is warranted.
Almost all root canals are done under local anesthetic. Dr. Weed uses double strength anesthetics as well as the latest techniques to ensure a comfortable experience.
The tooth is isolated with a dental dam prior to treatment. This is akin to "draping the patient" in a surgery when a patient is under general anesthesia. The dam serves to minimize inoculation of bacteria from outside the tooth during the procedure as well as to protect the patient from anything entering the mouth that should not be there.
The tooth is cleaned and defective fillings and decay are completely removed. This is critical to making one final judgment on the suitability of the tooth for long-term retention in the mouth. The canals in the roots are located and cleaned. They are then sealed with a cement and usually a rubber material called gutta percha. One of the most important parts of root canal treatment is the repair of the damage the crown of the tooth has sustained. This is called a "build up" and will ensure the root canals are well protected.
Since the purpose of this treatment is to allow the patient to keep his or her tooth, Dr. Weed believes in an individualized approach to treatment for each patient and each scenario.