ROOT CANAL TREATMENT: WE SAVE TEETH
Inflammations of the dental pulp (“tooth nerve”) usually cause severe, throbbing pain. Treatment is urgently needed: Diseased teeth may be lost if not properly treated. Thanks to special training and equipment, we can save teeth – with a root canal treatment according to the latest standards.
So we do a root canal treatment:
- Treatment under rubber dam – for reliable protection against bacteria in saliva
- Under view through a magnifying glasses
- Automated, computer-aided preparation of root canals with highly flexible nickel-titanium files (disposable instruments)
- Ultrasonic rinse – for thorough cleaning of the root canals
- Machine root canal filling – for dense protection against invading bacteria
- Root canal fillings – to remove old and leaky root canal fillings
LOOK INSIDE THE TOOTH
The interior of the tooth is as lively as a small organ: here are the root canals with their fine branches. Therein lies the so-called “Zahnnerv”, the Zahnmark (Pulpa).
The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves and certain cells that keep the tooth healthy and alive. If the tooth interior becomes ill, the tooth is acutely threatened.
WHY CAN THE DENTAL PULP IGNITE?
By deep caries, defective fillings or hairline cracks (tooth fractures such as heavy load or accident) bacteria can penetrate into the pulp. As a result of the infection, the dental pulp becomes inflamed and dies over time (necrosis).
Accidental injuries, heat or chemical stimuli can also damage the pulp, causing the death of a part that gradually infects the other cells.
HOW CAN THE TOOTH BE SAVED?
The only chance to get the tooth is to completely remove the infected or already dead tissue from the root canal. The tiny channels in the tooth make the treatment a challenging task. It requires intuition, experience and modern technical equipment. The aim is to produce absolute sterility in the tooth interior. Then the fine rabbits are locked with a plastic filling and the tooth restored, for example, by a crown.
The prognosis for success is very high when using the right technique with up to 90% for a first treatment.
The effort to preserve the natural tooth substance is worthwhile, because the only alternative would be to pull and replace the tooth, for example with an implant.
WHY CAN A “DEAD” TOOTH STILL HURT?
A root-treated tooth is “dead”, but it is still in a tooth-compartment, which is also supplied with nerves and blood vessels. Sometimes the germs have even penetrated to this point and inflammation can occur, which manifests itself with hypersensitivity, swelling and pus formation. But even then, not all is lost: a small surgical procedure can remove the inflamed tissue around the root and preserve the tooth.