Tratamente endodontice

When a tooth is broken or has a deep cavity, bacteria can invade causing an infection inside the tooth. If left untreated, the infection can develop into an abscess. If the infected tissue is not removed, pain can occur and swelling occurs. This may not only affect the tooth involved but can progress to the jaw and then to other parts of the body, leading to impairment of general health. Without proper treatment it is often necessary to remove the tooth.

As a result, patients often request extraction of the tooth in question, without considering the consequences of losing even one tooth.

Endodontic treatment, more commonly known as root canal treatment, is a treatment of the tooth aimed at removing infection as well as protecting the tooth from further infection.

With proper root canal treatment (endodontic treatment), the affected tooth can be saved and then restored by several methods, depending on the degree of coronal destruction caused by the caries process.

Teeth requiring endodontic treatment are not always painful. However, there are signs to show you that you may need a root canal filling. These signs include:

Severe toothache;
Pain when chewing or applying pressure
Prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold
Appearance of dark spots on teeth
Swelling and tenderness in nearby gums.

Most teeth can be saved by endodontic treatment, but tooth extraction may be necessary if:

The roots are badly fractured;
The tooth does not have adequate bone support;
The tooth can no longer be restored;
Dental canals are inaccessible.

Endodontic treatment is designed to help save your tooth from extraction. Missing teeth can affect your ability to bite and chew, can cause other healthy teeth problems that may later lead to extraction, and can have a negative impact on your overall health. By choosing endodontic treatment, you are choosing to preserve a beautiful, healthy smile for years to come.

Through endodontic treatment, the contents of the root canals are filled with various materials that are intended to keep the tooth asymptomatic, painless on the arch and used through reconstruction to restore the functions of the dento-maxillary apparatus.

When do I need a root canal treatment?
What are the goals of root canal treatment?
Can root canal treatment be replaced by antibiotic treatment?

When do I need a root canal treatment?

In most cases endodontic treatment is necessary for three main reasons:

infection of the dental pulp by dental caries, which can penetrate dental hard tissues up to the pulp chamber;
pulp chamber contents affected by dental trauma: e.g. accidental primary dental fracture or secondary to other inappropriate dental or prosthetic treatment;
for therapeutic purposes: often due to dental migrations, in order to use these teeth as abutments in a prosthetic work, an untimely grinding of the dental tissues is necessary, which leads to the opening of the pulp chamber and implicitly to endodontic treatment. Teeth requiring endodontic treatment are not always painful. However, there are signs to show you that you may need a root canal filling. These signs include:
Severe toothache;
Pain when chewing or applying pressure;
Prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold;
The appearance of dark spots on the teeth;
Swelling and tenderness in nearby gums.

What are the goals of root canal treatment?

The tooth has a vascular and nervous tissue (nerve) inside the root canals, which ensures the supply of nutrients. When inflammation or infection of this tissue occurs, it must be removed. Root canal treatment involves one to several visits to the dentist's office.

Root canal treatment consists of removing the nerve from the root canals, followed by disinfection and sterilisation at this level as well as plugging (filling) them with special materials, which ensure sealing and prevent infection. Initially, this treatment is carried out to remove pain and prevent or treat infection. This intervention is also necessary to avoid the formation of an abscess, an inflamed area where pus collects and can cause swelling of the tissues around the tooth along with other signs of inflammation. Symptoms of an abscess can range from dull pain to severe pain and tooth sensitivity when bitten. If left untreated the infection will spread, which can ultimately lead to the tooth being extracted and replaced with a dental work.
Endodontic treatment is designed to help save your tooth from extraction. Missing teeth can affect your ability to bite and chew, as well as your appearance, can cause other healthy teeth problems leading to subsequent extraction, and can have a negative impact on your overall health. By choosing endodontic treatment, you are choosing to preserve a beautiful, healthy smile for years to come. This can not only affect the tooth involved but can progress to the jawbone or mandible and then to other anatomical structures (sinuses - maxillary sinusitis, superficial or deep lobes - abscesses, phlegmons), also leading to damage to the general health of the body (focal disease, bacterial endocarditis, septicaemia).

Can root canal treatment be replaced by antibiotic treatment?

No! Infection inside the tooth does not respond to antibiotic treatment because the tooth (its hard structures) restricts the amount of blood reaching the area and therefore the amount of antibiotic. Thus, antibiotics do not reach the infected area in sufficient quantity and cannot work. Also, due to the reduced blood flow in the area of the dental pulp and its self-repair capacity is also reduced.