WHAT IS  ENDODONTIC TREATMENT / ROOT CANAL TREATMENT

Before knowing any further about Root Canal Treatment , you should first know about the anatomy of the dental tooth . To know what the dentist is doing , you must know the structure of the tooth .

“Endo” is the Greek word for “inside” and “odont” is Greek for “tooth.” Endodontic treatment treats the inside of the tooth. Root canal treatment is one type of endodontic treatment. So let’s see about the structures of the tooth that are directly related to any endodontic treatment .

ENAMEL:

The first is the outer layer of enamel, which is a very hard, crystalline material that acts as a protective helmet or shell. It breaks apart foods during the act of chewing, it can resist grinding and abrasion, and it helps protect the tooth throughout life.

The enamel is also resistant to acid and chemical attacks during the process of digestion . 

The enamel is there as a thin protective shell, protecting the rest of the basic tooth structure from the outside environment.

DENTIN: 

Inside the enamel shell are the tooth’s dentin tubules, which is continuous with the root structure. The entire inner part of the tooth develops over time with millions of tubules that run throughout the entire inner part of the tooth, from the inner blood flow to the outer environment of the tooth structure.

 PULP:

In the middle of the tooth is the “pulp,” or nerve. This supplies the blood vessels, the blood cells, and the living tissue to the inner part of the tooth.

Additionally, it has a multitude of criss-crossing ligaments that act as a suspension system, helping to absorb the shock and force of biting and chewing for the protection of the more fragile bone.

Surrounding this whole basic tooth structure is the bone, with its blood flow, blood vessels, and lymphatics that supply health to the entire structure of not just the immune membrane, but also the inner part of the tooth and the bone itself, so that it can last a lifetime.

BLOOD VESSELS & NERVES are the most important part of the tooth . Any infection that leads to the pulp chamber infecting the blood vessels & nerves leads to pain , swelling & ultimately Root Canal Treatment is needed for its management .

Nerves & Vessels in the tooth go through lot of changes with age . These changes are normal , just like any other tissue in the body that goes through changes with age .

With age there is gradual calcification of the dental pulp . As a nerve inside of a tooth goes through time, with increasing stimulus and change, the tooth root becomes increasingly calcified.

This doesn’t mean that the tooth is dead. A calcified tooth and its living parts–the outer immune membrane, the bone–are still intact, as long as the system has been kept healthy.

 WHAT HAPPENS IN CASE OF A DENTAL PROBLEM

Dental diseases are a cascade of infections that progress in a chain like sequence. The whole idea of dental therapy is to break that sequence of action.

Once that sequence is broken along with proper therapy to treat the lost structures of the tooth, there is a gradual progression towards restoring the normal function and health of the tooth. So, timely detection of the diseased condition and the earliest treatment goes a long way in maintaining proper oral health.