Microscopic endodontics
This is root canal treatment using large magnification provided by an operating microscope. The root canals in a healthy tooth contain dental pulp. It consists of connective tissue and blood vessels that supply the tooth with necessary nutrients. The pulp also contains nerve fibers that let us know if the tooth is not okay.
A typical example is dental pulp inflammation. It manifests in strong and long-lasting pain that causes you to seek medical attention. The cause of the pain is inside the tooth. There has been irreversible damage to the pulp, so it needs to be removed before the infection spreads from the tooth to the surrounding bone.
It should be remembered that the root canals are very thin structures inside the root. They often cannot be seen with the naked eye. If we cannot eliminate all the infection from the tooth, problems can persist, and the tooth will need to be removed. In other words, root canal treatment is the last chance to save the tooth, and therefore all available modern technologies need to be used to ensure that the treatment is of the highest quality.
How is root canal cleaning done?
Endodontic treatment under the microscope includes the following phases:
- providing optimal conditions for access to root canals
- mechanical and chemical modification of the marrow cavity and root canals
- filling the resulting cavity inside the root with a suitable material
Teeth which need root canal treatment are often damaged by extensive caries. Before we begin to treat the root canals, we first apply local anesthesia and isolate the tooth from the cavity using the oral latex membrane (Kofferdam), which provides us with a dry working environment. Then we carefully remove all tooth decay to avoid repeated infection of the treated canal, and only at this stage can we proceed to the actual treatment of the root part of the tooth.
Using an operating microscope, we are able to find and clear a root system that could not be detected without great magnification. The main condition for endodontic treatment is the removal of all root canal infections. Therefore, the root canal length needs to be accurately measured using a device called apex locator and the use endodontic files to treat the canals so that they can be rinsed with the disinfectant solution. Disinfection of the root canals is a very important step, so we pay close attention to it. The solution in the channel is activated by an ultrasonic device to increase its efficiency.
Then we dry the canals and use the Elements free system to perform three-dimensional filling of the root system using hot gutta-percha latex.
What do you need remember after root canal treatment?
The tooth may be sensitive for a short time after the endodontic treatment. Sensitivity usually subsides within a few days and the patient is completely without difficulty. A more serious problem is increased fragility, because the tooth lost the nutrition that the dental pulp was providing. It has thus become prone to the formation of dangerous cracks. Therefore, it is always necessary to protect the tooth after root canal treatment with some type of denture.
