Although many tend to be confused and mistakenly believe that endodontics and root canals are different procedures, it is important to clarify that they are the same dental discipline. However, it is necessary to clarify what this process is about root canal treatment.
Well, we know as endodontics a dental procedure that is based on the extraction of the internal tissue (pulp) of a tooth that presents a significant degree of deterioration due to fissures, or that has lost its vitality completely. Subsequently, the tooth is filled with resin and sealed, so that the affectation does not progress and does not cause further damage.
For a tooth to reach such a level, the patient had to have suffered a trauma that has destroyed the tissue that connects the tooth with the rest of the body. It can also be caused by cavities that are too advanced, or fissures caused by excess pressure.
In any case, if it is not treated in a timely manner, the tooth will begin to lose its original color, turning brown or yellowish, weakening to the point of being able to crack and fall, affecting adjacent pieces, and causing bad breath, pain and infections at the base of the tooth, which can evolve to damage the soft tissue and alveolar bone.
What makes root canal treatment necessary is that after certain complications, complications can affect the pulp or nerves of the tooth. Unfortunately, once you suffer from pulpitis (inflammation in the internal tissue of the tooth caused by infections), there is no going back, so it is mandatory to remove the pulp in its entirety, as well as the nerves that are in the most part low of the tooth. This is why endodontic treatement is also known as root canal treatment.
How Is Root Canal Treatment Carried Out?
Once the relevant studies have been carried out to determine if the patient needs a root canal, the specialist must make a small indentation in the upper part of the dental crown. Through said opening, small tools designed to fractionate and extract the pulp in its entirety are introduced.
Then, when the cavity is completely empty, an internal wash is carried out that will prepare the space for subsequent sealing. Finally, when the tooth has been stripped of the nerves and pulp, the dentist fills the tooth with a synthetic material (composite), then seals and molds it so that the treatment is imperceptible to the common eye.
Thanks to advances in science, endodontic specialists have designed different treatments depending on the type of tooth, which guarantees that there is no possibility of errors. The types of endodontics are:
- Uniradicular endodontics: These are root canals that are carried out on teeth that have a single root canal, such as the central incisors, the upper and lower canines, and the first two molars.
- Biradicular endodontics: As expected, it is the treatment of canals in pieces with two root canals, such as some of the lower molars and the lower second premolars, which, despite having a single root, have two canals inside.
- Multiradicular root canals: Naturally, this is the root canal procedure for teeth with more than two root canals. In this group we can find the upper molars, although it should be taken into account that each patient has anatomical variations that must be studied.
Finally, it is important to bear in mind that endodontic results can last a lifetime, but it is crucial that the patient maintains excellent hygiene to ensure the duration and well-being of their restored teeth.
