What is the root canal treatment and why is it performed?

To understand the nature of the root canal treatment (endodontic treatment) it is necessary to mention the construction of the tooth. The tooth is made of a crown and roots. The crown is a portion of the tooth projecting above the gum and the root (or roots) resides in the bone. Inside each tooth there is a cavity that is filled with pulp, popularly known as the "nerves". It performs the functions of nutrients, and is composed of blood vessels and nerves.

The most frequent cause of toothache is ongoing inflammation in the pulp. It is mostly a consequence of dental caries but also periodontal diseases and tooth injury. That's when a patient needs root canal treatment, which involves the removal of infected or dead pulp and root canal system of teeth, by chemical and mechanical cleaning and filling the tooth with special material. Endodontic treatment gives us a chance to preserve the tooth, when the pulp is changed pathologically.

What are the stages of the endodontic treatment? 

It consists of successive stages:

- opening the chamber of the tooth and removal of the living or dead pulp (usually performed under local anesthesia)

- shaping the canal with hand tools or machines 

- drainage of the canal system

- filling the channel with special material 

- the tooth after the root canal treatment should be rebuilt usually by the use of a post and a prosthetic crown. In the case of small destruction of a crown of the tooth, it can be filled with composite filling

Root canal treatment abroad is labor-and time-consuming treatment and requires a lot of patience from both physician and patient. It is not always possible to perform full treatment in one visit, sometimes it needs more meetings, especially in the treatment of multi-canal teeth, or treatment of teeth with gangrenous pulp, abscesses, cysts, etc. Then, during the time between the visits a pateint has a tooth dressing. It is important to maintain the tightness of the dressing, since if the bacteria re-enters to the prepared root canal system, it usually destroys the current treatment. Therefore it is important to keep your appointments in the time advised by your doctor.