What is root canal treatment for tooth decay?

Tooth decay is a disease that seriously damages teeth. Caries usually occurs in early childhood. Because young children's diet is very irregular and tends to be sweet, it can easily have a very adverse effect on their teeth. In severe cases, tooth decay can directly damage the health of the root canal. Therefore, timely treatment and recovery are very important. Let's take a look at what root canal treatment for tooth decay is.

Root canal therapy, also known as endodontic treatment, is a procedure in dentistry that treats pulp necrosis and root infection. This procedure preserves the tooth and thus complements tooth extraction. The surgery is complicated and usually requires 2-4 visits to complete. The patient also suffers greater pain.

Treatment steps

Step 1: Root canal preparation

Before root canal preparation, preoperative evaluation of root canal treatment, pulp chamber preparation and working length measurement are required, followed by the root canal preparation stage. There are two methods of root canal preparation, and different preparation methods are used depending on the instrument selected. When doing root canal preparation for endodontic treatment, it is important to emphasize that since the root canal system is very complex, no instrument or preparation method can reach the entire root canal system, so the combination of mechanical preparation and chemical preparation is very important.

Step 2: Root canal disinfection stage

In root canal treatment, it is recommended that teeth with vital pulp or infection limited to the coronal pulp can use the one-time method, while others can undergo root canal sealing.

Step 3: Root canal filling stage

During root canal treatment, when filling the root canal, it is important to grasp the timing of filling. Generally, filling can be performed when there are no subjective symptoms, no obvious percussion pain, no odor in the root canal, no exudation, and no symptoms of acute periodontitis. There is no need to wait until all symptoms disappear, nor does it necessarily have to wait for the fistula to heal completely. Repeated filling can easily cause greater irritation to the periapical region. As for filling methods, the cold gutta-percha lateral pressure method is still the mainstream, while the hot gutta-percha method is the future trend.

Root canal treatment process

1. Take X-rays to determine the structure of the affected area and the surgical plan.

2. Administer local anesthesia.

3. Drill the tooth and remove the decayed tooth.

4. Open the pulp cavity and remove the necrotic pulp.

5. Use a root canal drill to enlarge the root canal.

6. Rinse the inside of the root canal with a disinfectant (e.g. sodium chlorate solution).

7. Fill the root canal with special materials to ensure it remains sterile for a long time.

8.Fill the holes in the teeth or install crowns.