Root Canal Treatment:

A root canal treatment or endodontics treatment is a procedure to remove damaged or decayed ‘pulp’ and used to repair and save a tooth that is badly decayed or becomes infected.

The cause of infection is usually decay in the tooth, under a filling or in the fracture of a tooth. Without treatment, this can cause a dental abscess resulting in severe pain, swelling and infection of the jaw bone.

Root canal treatment is usually the best option for someone whose pulp has become infected or damaged. This may be because of an untreated cavity in the tooth where the infection has eventually filtered down into the pulp.

Other reasons include damage to the pulp via injury or repeated dental procedures within the tooth. Gum disease may also lead to the need for root canal treatment.

Root canal treatment is the removal of the tooth's pulp, a small, thread-like tissue in the center of the tooth. Once the damaged, infected or dead pulp is removed, the remaining space is cleaned, shaped and filled with root canal filling material.

The only alternative to carrying out root canal treatment is to remove the tooth.   Although some people would prefer an extraction, it is usually best to keep as many natural teeth as possible.