ENDODONTICS

This is also known as “killing the nerve” and is a treatment in which the diseased pulpal tissue and the bacteria inside the canals of the tooth are removed. The tooth affected is cleaned and prepared to the base of the root and subsequently completely filled with a special material which seals it to avoid future infections.

Tooth decay, dental traumatism, and periodontal disease are the most common causes of irreversible damage to the dental pulp. When this occurs the only possibility of saving the tooth involvesremoving the necrotised or diseased pulp and the sealing of the space created as hermetically as possible.

Endodontics is the treatment of root canals and includes all therapies acting on the dentine-pulp system (i.e. dental pulp and its dentine) of a tooth (the term currently preferred is tooth organ). It has also been recognised by the American Dental Association as anodontological speciality since 1963.

Endodontic therapy consists of the partial removal (pulpotomy in provisional teeth) or the total removal of dental pulp (nerve-artery-vein). It is applied in the case of fractured teeth or those with widespread decay or with damage to the pulp tissue (lax connective tissue) in which characteristic symptoms of pulpitis are found (classification of pulpal damage).