Root canal treatment

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.
SpecialtyEndodontics
Root canal procedure: unhealthy or injured tooth, subsequent creation of an access cavity with a dental handpiece, cleaning and shaping the root canals with an endodontic file, and restoration with gutta-percha filling and a crown
Removing infected pulp during a root canal procedure

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]

  1. ^ Cohen S (2006). Pathways of the Pulp. Mosby. ISBN 978-0-323-03067-0.
  2. ^ Nanci A (2012). Ten Cate's Oral Histology: Development, Structure, and Function. Mosby. ISBN 978-0-323-07846-7.
  3. ^ Patel S (2013). The Principles of Endodontics. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-965751-3.
  4. ^ 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. PMID 21219361.
  5. ^ (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.
  6. ^ Setzer FC, Kim S (January 2014). "Comparison of long-term survival of implants and endodontically treated teeth". Journal of Dental Research. 93 (1): 19–26. doi:10.1177/0022034513504782. PMC 3872851. PMID 24065635.
  7. ^ Kishen A, Peters OA, Zehnder M, Diogenes AR, Nair MK (May 1, 2016). "Advances in endodontics: Potential applications in clinical practice". Journal of Conservative Dentistry. 19 (3): 199–206. doi:10.4103/0972-0707.181925. PMC 4872571. PMID 27217630.