ROOT CANAL TREATMENT (RCT)

RCT (ROOT CANAL TREATMENT) is a common treatment in Dentistry. The objective of the treatment lies in repairing the tooth which is badly decayed or infected by foreign anomalies. RCT is a job of precision & requires a very skilled & a specialized dentist who is called Endodontist . Usually, it is carried out on a tooth which gets infected by dental decay due to lack of oral hygiene leading to severe pain, sensitivity or swelling.

WHO ALL NEED IT?

If there is a deep cavity, a cracked tooth, or broken filling in patients mouth

Symptoms – The tooth becomes sensitive to high & low temperatures leading to severe pain while drinking something cold or hot like cold water or ice cream or cold drink or tea or coffee. There may be pain while chewing, some people may have  continuous, throbbing pain.  

There may be pus discharge from the infected tooth.

Without treatment, the infection will spread to adjacent teeth and bone leading to severe pain & swelling. Eventually, the tooth will become loose & requires removal.

Some patients opt for tooth removal instead of undergoing RCT. However, removing a tooth may mean that the surrounding teeth start to move & become crooked. This can look unsightly, and it can make it hard to have a good bite which will lead to difficulty in eating food in future.

If the tooth cannot be saved, the next best option to replace it is a Dental Implant.

However, if possible, saving the natural tooth is best, because nothing functions as good as a natural tooth.

Adding a Crown or Filling

After RCT patient’s tooth requires a permanent crown or filling to confirm long term survival of the treated tooth. Without crown after RCT the tooth is likely to fracture.

Until the crown or filling is complete, the patient should not chew or bite on the treated tooth. Once there is a crown, the person can use the tooth as before.

RCT often takes only one appointment, but if there are curved canals, multi-canals, or large infections, this could take one or two additional appointments.

How painful is it?

One of the great fears about this kind of treatment is that it will be painful, but the treatment that is carried out by a trained & specialized dental surgeon is relatively painless.

The infected tooth is anaesthetized before starting Root Canal Treatment

The pain that is felt sometimes comes from the infection & not from the treatment. The treatment does not cause pain.

Root canal therapy saves the tooth & eliminates the pain.

How Successful is Root Canal  Treatment?

Root canal treatment is highly successful; the procedure has more than a 98% success rate. Many teeth fixed with a root canal treatment can last a lifetime.

Also, because the final step of the root canal treatment procedure is application of a restoration such as tooth colored crown or a filling, it will not be obvious for anybody to make out whether any treatment was ever done in that tooth.