Root Canal Treatment (3/3)
How it is done
- A member of the dental team will place a rubber dam around the tooth. This protects the tooth from germs in your saliva while the work is being done.
- Your dentist or endodontist may give you "freezing" (or anesthetic). In some cases, anesthetic is not needed.
- Your dentist or endodontist will make a small opening in the tooth to reach the root canal system and the damaged pulp.
- He or she will take out the pulp by cleaning and enlarging the root canal system with very fine dental tools (or instruments).
- Then he or she will fill and seal the root canal with a rubber-like material (called guttapercha) after it has been cleaned.
- Your dentist or endodontist will seal the opening of the tooth with either a temporary or permanent filling.
Things to consider
Root canal treatment may be done in one appointment, or it may take more. It depends on how complex the root canal system is, and on the degree of pulp damage.
Sometimes, if the infection has spread from the tooth to the bone (or abscessed), the infection may have to be drained before the root can be filled.
After root canal treatment, your tooth may be tender for the first week or 2. Bad pain or swelling are not common. If this happens, call your dentist or endodontist.
After a root canal, your tooth has to be fixed (or restored) to look, feel and work as much like a natural tooth as possible. Your dentist may use a filling or a crown to restore your tooth. It depends on the strength of the part of the tooth that's left. A back tooth will likely need a crown because chewing puts a great deal of force on back teeth. If there is not enough of the tooth left, your dentist may use a post to help hold the crown on. A tooth that has become dark may be bleached, crowned or covered with a veneer.
You can still get a cavity or gum disease after a root canal. It does not protect your tooth from other types of damage.
Root canal retreatment and root canal surgery
Root canal retreatment
Most of the time, a root canal is a success, but in some cases, a second root canal is needed. This is called retreatment. The root canal filling material is taken out, and the canal is recleaned, reshaped and refilled.
Root canal surgery
A dentist or an endodontist may do surgery when a regular root canal cannot be done, or when it has not worked. Surgery is done to:
- check the end of the root for cracks (or fractures)
- remove parts of the root that could not be cleaned
- during regular root canal treatment
- clear up an infection that did not heal after regular treatment
Who will do the surgery or retreatment
All dentists learn to do root canal treatment in dental school, but because retreatment and surgery are more complex, your dentist may refer you to an endodontist.
Most of the time, a tooth that has had a root canal can be saved. But there are cases where all efforts to save a tooth fail, and the tooth must be pulled (or extracted).
This booklet should not replace regular dental visits. If you have questions about your oral health or the contents of this booklet, please talk to your dentist.
Dr. Molly Rodgers, General Dentist - Providing services in cosmetic dentistry to the area of Edmonton Alberta, Canada.
