Endodontics under a microscope
Root canal treatment is always carried out with the use of a microscope of the world leader in optics, Carl Zeiss. Thanks to this, we can find and treat all canals, remove broken tools, or locate broken root. It is very important to achieve maximum success in therapy. Following the latest global endodontics standards, we use special mechanicals tools and a system of filling the canals with hot, liquid gutta-percha. This ensures that we achieve the best results and at the same time shorten the treatment to even one visit.
This area requires precision and commitment from the dentist. Only this enables effective treatment. At the Titanium Dental Clinic, we emphasize that it is always worth fighting for natural teeth, and we do our best to keep them in the mouth as long as possible.
When is root canal treatment necessary?
You should go to a doctor if you feel dull and acute pain or you are sensitive to high or low temperatures, even when touching a tooth. In many cases, one of the most common reasons for the need for root canal treatment is untreated caries. If a patient does not react quickly enough, its uncontrolled development may lead to the bacteria multipling that will cause painful inflammation. The patient’s attention should be drawn to the previously mentioned oversensitivity to extreme temperatures, but also sweet stimuli such as drinks or other snacks. Such a reaction is a fairly clear signal to the developing pulp inflammation. A quick reaction gives a chance to save the tooth.
To sum up, the symptoms and situations that may indicate that root canal treatment is necessary are:
- current pulp inflammation,
- pulp necrosis in the tooth,
- unsuccessful root canal treatment (in this case, we are already talking about re-endodontics, i.e., repeated root canal treatment)
An indication for root canal treatment may also be lymph node enlargement. It happens that root canal treatment may also be necessary, even if the tooth does not hurt. The changes can be detected only during the examination or in an X-ray.
Root canal treatment – course of treatment
Every tooth that makes a patient feel painful requires an X-ray. This will allow the dentist to efficiently assess how much damage has occurred to the tooth (or teeth). If one considers that the tooth is curable, he or she will take action to prepare it for root canal treatment. The dentist’s first task is patient’s local anesthesia and removal of the infected pulp throughout the canal. At this point, a microscope becomes extremely helpful, allowing to work on a field of even one square millimeter.
After proper removal of the entire content of infected tissues from the tooth, the dentist may proceed to the next stage of work, which is filling it with liquid gutta-percha. It is a biocompatible substance, entirely safe for use by every patient. It is used to fill the canal tightly, and thanks to that, the risk of abnormalities is low. Completed treatment allows returning to normal life, without pain.
Painless endodontics
Contrary to popular belief, root canal treatment does not have to be painful. The multitude of myths that have grown up around this treatment make it associated with fear and anxiety of painful moments in the dental chair. Fortunately, in theTitanium Dental Clinic we use modern local anesthetics, which eliminates pain. This ensures that root canal treatment is as painless as possible for a patient. After correct administration of the anesthetic, our patient will feel only slight pressure even when removing the infected pulp..
If after examination it turned out that a tooth requires root canal treatment, it would means that caries bacteria have penetrated the roots of the tooth. They have gone through the enamel and dentine and entered the tooth’s innervated pulp, which is connected to the bloodstream of the whole body. This situation is dangerous not only for the tooth but also harms the joints, heart, kidneys, and other organs and requires immediate treatment.
- Diagnosis
At this stage, an X-ray is taken, and based on it, the number of roots (some teeth have 4 roots), their shape and the width and course of canals inside each treatment is determined. - Cleaning the tooth crown
Decay bacteria are removed from the tooth crown. The remaining tooth walls are designed so that they allow easy access to the canals of all roots. - Cleaning of infected canals
Cleaning canals takes place in three stages:- removal of infected pulp from each canal
- cleaning the canal walls from bacteria – their porous structure makes it easy for bacteria to penetrate them
- chemical disinfection to kill bacteria which were not removed mechanically
- Filling cleaned root canals
Empty, thoroughly cleaned, and disinfected root canals are filled with a special, biologically neutral preparation. It provides an airtight barrier and adequate protection against the re-transmission of bacteria. The last stage of tooth treatment is the reconstruction of its anatomical shapes.