Dentists perform millions of successful root canals each year. Root canal treatment removes the pulp, nerve tissue, connective tissue and blood vessels from inside the tooth. Why do people need root canal treatment? How would someone know that they need a root canal?
The primary reason someone would need root canal treatment is that their tooth has a deep cavity. Bacteria causes tooth decay. When a cavity is deep enough that bacteria infects the pulp, the tooth becomes painful.
Dental trauma - hitting a tree, a pipe, a baseball, a steering wheel or the ground - shocks the pulp. The pulp may recover. Conversely, the pulp may become uncomfortable and die.
In both of these situations, the symptoms are similar. Throbbing ache is common. The pain may be worse at night. There can be sensitivity to heat, pressure and sensitivity to cold that lingers after removing the cold stimulus from the tooth. Left long enough without treatment, the infection may work through the bone around the tooth creating a swelling or a pimple-like fistula on the gums, lips or cheek.
Dentists test suspect teeth by tapping them, which is called percussion testing. A second test, cold testing, uses ice, cold air or freezing liquid to test for lingering pain. Another test uses a device to pass an electrical current through the tooth. The device slowly increases the current until either the patient just feels the current, or the current is as high as it will go. A healthy tooth feels the current at a relatively low level. A sick tooth may feel the current at a very low level, high level or not at all. It is important for the dentist to test multiple teeth for comparison.
There are other reasons that root canal treatment may become necessary. Sometimes a tooth decays or breaks off too short to repair with a crown. Root canal treatment allows the dentist to insert a metal or fiberglass post into the root to anchor the new crown in place.
Alternatively, the tooth may grow too long because the opposing tooth is missing. Too shorten the tooth enough, root canal treatment may be necessary.
More infrequently, damage to a tooth may cause the tooth to darken. Root canal treatment allows the dentist to bleach the tooth from the inside.
Author: Dr. David Leader
© 2008 Associated Content