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The name root canal sends chills down the spine of most that have heard about it or have experienced it in the past. The reason is that either they have had a bad experience with this modality of treatment or have heard horrifying stories from their near ones.
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Technology has changed every aspect of life and how could dentistry or for that matter root canal treatment be left behind. There have been tremendous advances in the techniques and the instruments used in root canal procedures. The procedure is no longer a 3-4 sitting affair nor is it painful.
At Sparkle dental clinic root canal treatment is done by Endodontist Dr.Manoj Nair or Dr. Shilpa Gupta who has an experience of 6 years in single visit root canal treatment . We use the most modern instruments and equipments available in the field of endodontics which gives us predictably good results in less time. We use the state of the art rotary nickel-titanium instruments to clean the canals.
The use of an electronic apex locator in root canal treatment is considered as essential as an altimeter in flying an aircraft! The apex locator as the name suggests, helps the dentist to accurately pinpoint the end of the root canal which otherwise is impossible to locate(even on an x-ray).At sparkle dental clinic we use the best apex locator ROOT ZX (J Morita Japan) and we verify our length on a digital x-ray (Kodak RVG ).
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General information about root canal treatment
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Endodontics refers to within the tooth.
Endo means within, dontic refers to the tooth. |
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| An endodontist is a dentist who is a specialist in the treatment of endodontic or root canal problems. |
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A root canal is a narrow, hollow, tube like space within a root of the tooth through which the nerves and
blood vessels enter the tooth from the surrounding bone. |
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The nerves and blood vessels travel from the end of the root through the root canal on their way to the pulp chamber at the centre of the tooth. This tissue collectively is called pulp tissue |
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The pulp chamber is the space in the crown of a tooth, which houses the nerves and blood vessels (the pulp). They have entered the tooth through the root canals.
The pulp chamber is like a nerve and blood vessel terminus, where their inward journey ends and the return journey back to the end of the root begins. |
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Root canal treatment involves the removal of the infected pulp tissue and filling the space with a bio-inert material called gutta-percha. |
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| The pulp tissue becomes infected when the cavity in the tooth spreads beyond the two layers- enamel and dentine and the bacteria enters the pulp chamber. Once infected the pulp tissue cannot be brought back to health by medications or any other procedure and the only treatment of such a tooth is either root canal treatment or extraction. |
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| Teeth that have root canal problems are generally painful. Decomposing nerves and blood vessels create gases that expand and are locked into the pulp chamber and root canals. They cause pressure which results in pain. The pain can also be in response to temperature changes, especially hot drinks, or can be spontaneous, very severe, and even throbbing in nature. The tooth may be tender on chewing |
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| The procedure of root canal generally begins with an anesthetic shot so that he tooth does not hurt through out the procedure. The anesthesia used is a local one hence the patient is awake, conscious and in full control of his motor and sensory reflexes. |
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After the anesthesia has acted completely the dentist then drills to first clean up the decayed part of the tooth structure and then to gain access to the root canal through the pulp chamber. The infected pulp tissue is then cleaned right unto the tip of the root using rotary or hand files and an apex locator. The dentist may even take x-rays to check the root length. After complete cleaning of the canals is achieved the space created by the removal of the pulp tissue is then filled up using a sealer and gutta-percha points. The excess gutta-percha is then sheared off with a hot instrument and the pulp chamber is then filled with a temporary filling. |
| The dentist my reduce the tooth so that it is not in contact with the opposing tooth to prevent it from biting trauma immediately after the rot canal treatment. The tooth is expected to be slightly painful after the treatment for a couple of days which is generally controlled using pain killers |
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For further post-op care refer to our section on post op care |
| POST AND CORE TREATMENT |
As mentioned earlier if the amount of healthy tooth structure available is not satisfactory to support a cap then an additional step of post and core may be suggested after root canal treatment.
Post placement involves the cementation of a metallic or a glass-fiber pin in the root canal and building up the permanent filling around it. Thus the post provides for additional anchorage to hold the permanent filling material. Alternatively the dentist may advice a cast post and core where the post and the core(filling) is fabricated in metal by casting procedure on a model made from an impression of the affected tooth. |
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| The post is completely enclosed from all sides and does not contact any living tissue so it is completely safe and a documented procedure to salvage a badly mutilated tooth. |
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| For further queries and clarifications feel free to e-mail us at info@sparkledental clinic.com |
Do visit our photo gallery for pictures of cases treated at Sparkle dental clinic |
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