A root canal or "endodontic" treatment basically restores your painful or infected tooth back to health. Basically, a tooth is hollow, kind of like a drinking straw. Inside this hollow space (the root canal) is where the nerves, blood vessels, and other "stuff" is located. Outside of the tooth, our mouths have bacteria that naturally live there. However, if these bacteria enter the root canal either through a cavity or a crack in the tooth, the nerve can die and the tooth will require a root canal treatment.
Root Canal Process
Root canals are not painful...some patients may remember a painful tooth that needed a root canal, but the actual procedure takes the pain away. Many patients actually take a nap during the root canal! During the procedure, the tooth is numbed, any cavity is cleaned up, and access is gained to the hollow "root canal" space of the tooth. Then we thoroughly clean that hollow space, dry it, and seal it.
After a root canal, many teeth will need a full-coverage crown as soon as possible for protection against cracking, as the tooth is now more brittle and fragile than before the root canal procedure.
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