Root Canal Treatment

The process of removing the living tissue in the tooth called pulp is called root canal treatment. In root canal treatment, the pulp tissue of the tooth that has been damaged or lost its vitality is removed, the root canals are shaped and then filled again with various biocompatible materials. Thus, the root canal is purified from microorganisms and closed in a way that prevents their entry.
Conditions that cause damage to the pulp, the living tissue of the tooth:
-Cracked tooth
-Deep caries that has reached the pulp tissue
-Traumatic causes as a result of a blow to the tooth

When the pulp, which is the living tissue of the tooth, is infected or loses its vitality, if left untreated, abscess formation can be observed, which involves the root of the tooth and affects the surrounding jawbone. Abscess can cause severe pain by disrupting the bone structure of the jawbone around the tooth.
The symptoms and pain patterns that indicate the need for root canal treatment are as follows:
Severe, prolonged, throbbing pain that starts without a reason.
Pain caused by contact between the teeth or contact with a material.
Pain when the tooth is exposed to a hot substance (tea, coffee, etc.)
Night pains that wake you up and keep you awake

HOW IS ROOT CANAL TREATMENT PERFORMED?

First of all, entrance cavities/entry ways are opened on the tooth in accordance with the anatomical structure of each tooth where we can reach the canals of the teeth.
As a result, the root canals are reached and cleaned with various tools and shaped according to their anatomy.
The shaped canal and pulp cavity are then permanently filled with biocompatible materials. The biocompatible material used in the canal is a material called gute percha, which has a shape suitable for the shape of the canal we shape. This material (gute percha) is placed in all the canals we shape with canal filling paste, which is also biocompatible. In some cases, especially in teeth with excessive material loss due to caries, structural support is provided by placing metal or fiber materials called post in the canal.
In order to determine whether the root canal treatment is successful in teeth with infection at the root end that causes bone destruction, the films taken before treatment are compared with the films taken at regular intervals after treatment and it is checked whether the infection, bone loss progresses or regresses and shows improvement.

HOW LONG CAN THE REPAIRED TOOTH BE USED?

Teeth that have undergone root canal treatment can remain in the mouth for a lifetime if the patient’s oral care is done correctly and properly, but since the teeth that have undergone root canal treatment have lost their vitality, their force resistance has decreased and they have become brittle compared to a living tooth. For this reason, crowns should be made to the root canal treated teeth after the healing is followed up. At the same time, if the patients do not pay enough attention to oral care, regular dentist examinations should be performed to prevent other problems in the future, as there may be caries formation in the treated tooth again.