Endodontics

Like any of the body's soft tissues the soft parts of the tooth - mainly the pulp and the tissues surrounding the root - are susceptible to disease or injury. If this happens, the tooth may be unable to repair itself, and the pulp can die. If infected pulp tissue is left in the tooth itself, the infection can spread into the jaw - which is both difficult to treat and very painful for the patient.

Endodontics is the branch of dentistry concerned with treating this kind of problem. It is a highly specialised field, and requires further training beyond that undertaken at dental school - taking as long as 2-3 years.

Treatments

The obvious, and most frequently performed method of treatment is root-canal therapy. Root canal work alleviates this by drilling out the tooth and removing the infected pulp. When this is removed, the body's own immune system will repair the damage.

Treatment often takes place over 2 or 3 visits to the dentist under local anaesthetic. The top of the tooth is drilled, allowing access to the pulp chamber, which is cleaned and shaped before a final treatment when the tooth is filled. Frequently, the tooth will need to undergo restorative treatment - normally crowning - and in some cases support is added to the tooth to keep the restoration in place.

The only alternative to this form of treatment is to completely remove the infection by extracting the tooth entirely. Obviously, such an approach has an impact on the patient's quality of life - particularly from a cosmetic viewpoint. Modern replacement teeth are have a good success rate and rarely cause problems. However, such treatment is relatively expensive and the benefits over root canal work are unclear.

Endodontics Products

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