Endodontics is a specialty of dentistry, dealing with tooth pulp (containing nerves and blood vessels) and tissues in the root of a tooth. The pulp can become diseased and die, requiring endodontic treatment.
The most common procedure done in endodontics is root canal therapy, which involves the removal of diseased pulp tissue to remove irreversibly inflamed pulp tissue. If the pulp tissue becomes infected, the infection can leak out of the tooth’s root and make the surrounding bone infected and painful or cause an abscess to form. Usually, this treatment requires 2-3 visits to your dentist with the use of local anaesthetic. Then the pulp chamber and root canals are cleaned and shaped for filling and sealing. Often, an intra-pulpal medicament to inhibit bacterial growth is placed and the tooth is filled with a temporary restoration until the second appointment, where the temporary restoration and medicament are removed and the canal(s) are sealed, thus completing the procedure. A crown is then placed on the tooth to strengthen it.