Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
The only alternative to performing a root canal procedure is to extract the diseased tooth. After restoration or extraction, the two main goals are to allow normal chewing and to maintain proper alignment band spacing between teeth. A fixed bridge,...
a removable partial denture or an implant will accomplish both goals. However, these are usually more expensive than a root canal treatment.
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This narrated animation shows how root canal surgery can save a natural tooth from destruction from advanced tooth decay. A cut away view of the tooth is shown along with the steps required to replace the diseased core of the tooth. In this version of a root canal, an artifical crown is placed, commonly referred to as a dental cap.
During a root canal, the diseased pulp of a tooth (A), is removed (B). The remaining empty tooth is filled and sealed with a filling or crown. (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Other Information
In the situation that a tooth is considered so threatened (because of decay, cracking, etc.) that future infection is considered likely or inevitable, a pulpectomy, removal of the pulp tissue, is advisable to prevent such infection. Usually, some inflammation and/or infection is already present within or below the tooth. To cure the infection and save the tooth, the dentist drills into the pulp chamber and removes the infected pulp by scraping it out of the root canals. Once this is done, the dentist fills the cavity with an inert material and seals up the opening. This procedure is known as root canal therapy. If enough of the tooth has been damaged, or removed as a result of the treatment, a crown may be required.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endodontic_therapy#Root_canal_treatment
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