When you’re experiencing an infected tooth, you will find that you’re also soon experiencing a root canal treatment if you’re motivated about keeping your smile healthy. This endodontic care treatment removes the cause of your problem (infected or damaged dental pulp), so you don’t have to resort to a dental extraction. While it’s always a big relief to learn you can save your smile and every one of its teeth, it can become a bit confusing to do your best to understand a procedure when the terms are new to you. Let’s ensure you’re completely ready for your upcoming visit by introducing some essential terminology.
Your Root Canals
Yes, the treatment we call “root canal treatment” is often shortened and referred to as simply a root canal. However, when we’re discussing the anatomical root canal in your smile, we’re talking about the hollow channels that exist in the lowermost part of your tooth (the space within your roots).
Dental Pulp
Within your tooth and those roots of yours is a soft tissue that lines the interior chamber. It’s known as dental pulp. It provides your tooth with the nourishment and nutrients it needs, as it’s full of blood vessels through which blood circulates. We remove this tissue during root canal treatment (don’t worry, your tooth will remain standing).
Gutta Percha
After we remove the dental pulp from your tooth during a root canal treatment, smooth the tooth tissue remaining, and ensure all is clean, we must seal your roots to prevent bacteria from entering. We use a substance that is quite rubbery in nature called gutta percha to do so. We may then fill your tooth and cover it with a dental crown.
