Procedure to disinfect and fortify the interior of a tooth
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Medical intervention
Root canal treatment
Tooth #13, the upper left second premolar, after excavation of DO decay. There was a carious exposure into the pulp chamber (red oval), and the photo was taken after endodontic access was initiated and the roof of the chamber was removed.
Root canal treatment (also known as endodontic therapy, endodontic treatment, or root canal therapy) is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth that is intended to result in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion.[1]Root canals, and their associated pulp chamber, are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and other cellular entities.[2]
Endodontic therapy involves the removal of these structures, disinfection and the subsequent shaping, cleaning, and decontamination of the hollows with small files and irrigating solutions, and the obturation (filling) of the decontaminated canals. Filling of the cleaned and decontaminated canals is done with an inert filling such as gutta-percha and typically a zinc oxide eugenol-based cement.[3]Epoxy resin is employed to bind gutta-percha in some root canal procedures.[4] Another option is to use an antiseptic filling material containing paraformaldehyde like N2.[5] Endodontics includes both primary and secondary endodontic treatments as well as periradicular surgery which is generally used for teeth that still have potential for salvage.[6][7]
^Marciano MA, Ordinola-Zapata R, Cunha TV, Duarte MA, Cavenago BC, Garcia RB, Bramante CM, Bernardineli N, Moraes IG (April 2011). "Analysis of four gutta-percha techniques used to fill mesial root canals of mandibular molars". International Endodontic Journal. 44 (4): 321–9. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2591.2010.01832.x. PMID21219361.
^(Venuti P. 2014) A dynamic prospective cohort study of initial endodontic treatments of 627 teeth: Long term results. International Journal of Dental and Health Sciences Volume 01, Issue 03.