Root Canal Treatment (RCT) is the more common, and less frightening, a term for an Endodontic Treatment performed by a Root Canal specialist. It is a painless procedure, usually done as an alternative to tooth extraction in an attempt to save a badly infected or damaged tooth. The treatment derives its name from the procedure of cleaning the “canals” inside the rotting part of the tooth.
The treatment becomes imperative when the dental pulp (the central soft part of the tooth which contains blood vessels, nerves, connective tissues, etc) gets infected or festered. This kind of tooth damage is usually the result of cavities formed by the accumulation of plaque. Sometimes if a tooth chips or cracks from an injury, the trauma can also lead to infection.
Other factors that might cause pulp inflammation or damage your pulp irreversibly, making it necessary for you to get a Root Canal Treatment done, include gum diseases and prolonged dental treatments conducted on a particular tooth. The treatment essentially involves removing the pulp, cleaning and disinfecting the area, filling and sealing it up.
Root Canal Treatments help save your tooth by bringing the infection under control before either the pulp dies or the infection spreads. As a result, it not only eliminates infection but also protects the disinfected tooth from microbial invasions in the future. Since a mature tooth derives nourishment from the gums and bone around it, the removal of the pulp does not affect the tooth in any way, and the treatment is almost always successful.