Endodontic Therapy – A Right Treatment for the Pulp of a Tooth
Endodontic therapy also known as root canal therapy is the treatment for the pulp of a tooth which results in the protection of the decontaminated tooth. Root canal therapy is indicated when there is or may be irreversible pulp pathology in the mature permanent tooth. Immature permanent teeth are a special consideration and are dealt separately. To cure the infection and save the tooth, the endodontist in St. Louis drills the pulp chamber and removes the infected pulp and then drills the nerve out of the root canal with long needleshaped drills. The objectives of endodontic therapy are: •
To clean and disinfect the pulp chamber and root canals.
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To fill the root canal with a non-irritant, antibacterial material thus sealing the apex.
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To close the access and exposure sites with a suitable restorative material.
The success of root canal therapy is its filling materials and sealers. The root canal filling materials Gutta Percha are a natural rubber material made from the palaquium gutta tree. They are used to obturate the pulpal canal after treatment has been completed. It is an organic substance that is solid at room temperature and becomes soft and pliable when heated. This material is supplied in various sizes and is placed followed with a sealer.
A root canal sealer is a cement type of material that seals out unfilled voids during the obturation process. Several cements, including calcium hydroxide, zinc oxide-eugenol, and glass ionomer, can be used as a sealer for root canal therapy. These materials are designed to have very little shrinkage and are easy to place, radiopaque for detection in a radiograph, nonstaining to the teeth, bacteriostatic, gentle on the periapical tissue that surrounds them, and able to resist moisture. Recent studies indicate that substances commonly used to clean the root canal space incompletely sterilize the canal. However, a properly restored tooth following root canal therapy yields long-term success rates near 97%.
The whole procedure is performed under anesthesia. It is time consuming, as each step needs to be performed with meticulous detail to ensure a successful outcome. The endodontist in St. Louis monitors the outcome of root canal therapy radio-graphically 6-12 months postoperatively. Evidence of disease around the tip of the root at this time indicates the need for further endodontic therapy or extraction of the tooth. For more details Visit us at http://www.endodontiststlouis.com