The root of a tooth is a structure that is not visible until an x-ray is taken. It is important to know what the tooth is “hiding” under the gums.

When the x-rays are showing that an infection is present around the root, but the root is still strong enough to support the tooth, the dentist might recommend a root canal therapy to save the tooth.

If the infection is extended and the root lacks stability because of the bone loss around it, the dentist will recommend you to have the tooth removed.

A root canal therapy is generally indicated when the pulp inside the tooth is damaged. As a joke, we might say that the dentist can be easily compared to a treasure finder, because he must use the right tools to perform the required procedures ; he will use progressively wider files, starting from the smallest, until the infection is eliminated from the root canals.

Basically, a root canal procedure is a sequence of treatment that aims to eliminate infection from inside the root canals. In some cases, this can be hard to do, because root canals come in various shapes and sizes. Some root canals are very thin or have a curvy shape, thus the files will not have an adequate access to all the areas of the root canal. In this case, the procedure may take a longer time ; if the infection is not eliminated from all areas of the root canal, there is a high risk of failure.

The intervention “through the tooth” needs a lot of attention from the dentist part. If infection is severe, a treatment must be applied inside root canals for several days or weeks. In the final step of every root canal therapy, the root canals are sealed with an inert root-filling material. This will protect the tooth from future microbial invasion. Once root canal therapy is successfully completed, the tooth can be restored with a filling or a dental crown.

Various electronic endodontic systems are available to help the dentist. These systems can monitor the entire procedure hence greatly increasing the accuracy and safety. One of the great advantages of these devices is they can accurately determine the length of the root canal space ; all information appears on a screen that is attached to the device.

A tooth with a root canal treatment still has the ability to decay. Therefore, a proper home care is required to increase the success rate of the procedure and the life-span of the root canal treatment. Besides that, it is very important to have regular X-rays taken of the root canal to ensure that the tooth is not having any problems.