Root canal treatment

What is a root canal treatment?

A root canal treatment is a measure that helps to rescue and to preserve teeth. If a dental nerve is irreversibly damaged or has already died as a consequence of severe inflammation, this treatment delivers an alternative to a tooth extraction.

When is a root canal treatment necessary?

If bacteria penetrate into the tooth, an inflammation of the dental pulp can be the consequence as a result of advanced caries, loose fillings, fractures or the like. This can not only be very painful but it leads also most commonly to irreversibly inflammations and kills the dental nerve. In order to avoid a dental extraction and to preserve the tooth, a root canal treatment is carried out.

Process of a root canal treatment

Before the treatment, the position and enlargement of tooth pulp and tooth root canal is determined on the basis of radiographs. This helps the dentist to find directly into the root canal and to localize possible branches. If the canal structure is quite complicated we produce a photograph of the dental root with the digital volume tomograph for better orientation. After your tooth is numb, access to the interior is given via the dental crown. Under microscopic view the inflamed dental pulp, the nerve and surrounding tissue are evaporated with the aid of a laser. The root canal will then be cleaned and smoothed. In order to ensure that none of the bacteria remain inside the tooth, the cavity is rinsed a few times with a disinfecting solution. If the root canal is prepared antibacterial, the cavity which was filled with tooth pulp before will be sealed with cement and a special root filling material.   In some cases, it may be advisable to insert a root post into the root canal to stabilize the tooth.

If you wish you can "sleep through" your root canal treatment. Let us advice you with our possibilities either to carry out the treatment with sedation or under general anesthesia.

Do you have further questions concerning dentistry or do you wish a consultation appointment at our private dental office Smileforever in Munich? Call us or please send us a message on our contact form.