Your teeth are strong, but poor dental care can cause the protective enamel that encases your teeth to break down. When this happens, your teeth become sensitive and more vulnerable to fractures and cavities. This is when your tooth’s root can become infected. Each tooth has soft tissue that runs through the tooth’s canals. The tissue is made up of nerves and blood vessels, which provide vital nourishment to the tooth. When a cavity or fracture is left untreated, that pulpy, soft tissue becomes infected and causes pain, now it's time to get a root canal.

Root canals are a common procedure used to save your tooth once infection sets in. If the nerve tissues and pulp in your tooth are damaged, there is a high chance for bacteria to grow and multiply in the pulp area. This situation can lead to infection as well as formation of abscesses. Abscessed tooth is usually formed when the infection has already scattered up to the ends of your tooth roots. Infection in this area can also seriously lead to swelling that may affect even your neck and face areas. There is also a risk of losing parts of your bone around the root’s tip because of the infection. Once this happens, there’s a greater risk of losing your tooth.

If for any reason the pulp space is exposed to the outside, the tissue becomes contaminated and eventually infected. The exposure of pulp happens in many circumstances, such as when you have a large cavity or a fractured tooth. Your dentist can explain the exact reason for damage to this tissue. In these cases, the treatment is usually root canal treatment.

Once the surface is drilled, the dentist removes the infected pulp tissue and further drills the root canal(s). Post the removal of pulp and drilling of root canal( pulp tester), the infected canal is disinfected using different medicinal oils and micro motor. To remove the infection and stop it from spreading, a small opening is created at the top of the tooth. From this opening, the tooth’s nerve is removed from the canal, and the inside of the tooth is cleaned before the canals are filled with a rubber-like material. Filling in the now-empty canals helps to seal them from future infection. Once complete, a temporary filling is placed onto the tooth until a permanent filling or crown is ready.

This procedure is typically performed by an endodontist since this type is highly specialized in assessing and treating diseases that are related to the dental pulp or tooth nerve. Other types of dentists can also perform the procedure but it will highly depend on that person’s level of expertise and the complexity of the dental procedure to be done. Make sure you check the credibility of the clinic performing the procedure so you can be sure of their level of expertise in such treatment.