Root canal treatment involves a sequence of steps that are done to heal the infected tooth.

Every tooth has two parts a crown and root. Nerves and blood vessels are present in the innermost structure of the tooth called as dental pulp. Any damage to this part of tooth indicates root canal treatment.

Severe acute pain can be caused by caries that invade the crown and the root. Such deep infections are usually associated with swelling which is generalized over the face or localized only to the affected tooth. Such severe pain and infection are very much relieved by this root canal treatment. Other than infection, injuries can also lead to root canal treatment.

As mentioned earlier, the treatment involves a series of procedure and therefore requires 2-5 clinical visits. The number of visits required is decided by the doctors according to the severity of the infection. X-Ray evaluations will be done through the procedure, to access the root canal damage and for the post, root filling on follow up of treatment.

• • A deep cavity is made to clear all caries from the crown until the infected dental pulp is reached.
  • Using small needle-like instruments the dental pulp is removed, with copious irrigation.
  • The shaped canals are refilled with special filling materials after cleaning of the debris.
  • The canal’s opening is filled with a layer of special filling materials which is left temporarily covered, until crown preparation is made.

• • The tooth preparation for the crown involves a minimal overall reduction of the tooth structure. An impression is taken following it and the lab processed crown (cap) that mimics the natural tooth is luted to the tooth permanently.

• • Choice of a crown is left to the affordability of patients. They can choose pure metal or metal with ceramic or all ceramic crowns. Charges vary accordingly.
  • Metal crowns are cheaper but will be visible inside the mouth. Metal with ceramic is commonly used. This has an inner layer of metal which is covered by a layer of ceramic. All ceramic crowns are much costlier and are equally good in terms of strength and aesthetics.

• Each sitting takes about 45mins- 1hr.

Is a crown definitely required following an RCT?

Root canal treatment should definitely be followed by crown so as to retain the strength of the tooth that has lost all its vital structures. Failure of protecting the RCT treated tooth with a crown tends to fracture the tooth easily, as it is very fragile to the stresses.

RCT has very high success rates and the filled & crowned tooth may last over many years if proper hygiene is maintained.

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