Root canal treatment is one of the tooth-saving ones, it is as important as the filling. The aim of the treatment is to prolong the lifetime of the teeth, so that we can use them longer. It is necessary if the decay is very deep, if the tooth got traumatized (ie: impacted by a severe blow), if a big part broke off, or when preparing the crown the root canal opens.
First we X-ray the starting condition, getting information about the anatomical endowment of the tooth, the number of the expected root canals and the presence and rate of a possible inflammation. During the treatment we apply intensive and pain-free anaesthesia. We remove the decay from the crown part of the tooth; we open the inside of it. We call this method trepanation.
After finding the canals we clean them with modern manual and mechanical devices and form them into the suitable shape. The next steps are cleaning (flush with liquid) and drying.
It is crucially important to know and to keep the correct length of the root canal so during the procedure we would need several X -rays. Fortunately we can replace this with modern, convenient electric device which can specify the length of the canal. It is really useful in case of a pregnant woman, as the root canal treatment can be carried out without any danger of X-ray.
It is important to note that the digital X-ray equipment we use emits such a low amount of radiation, that they are not dangerous for health at all. Nevertheless to reduce this minimal radiation we protect our patients with lead apron.