THE ROOT CANAL PROCEDURE
To get to the inside of the dead tooth, the dentist drills an
access hole into the end of the tooth (the chewing surface)
until the drill sinks into the softer core of the tooth, known
as the “pulp chamber”. That pulp chamber is where the
main nerve supply to the tooth is and where the blood
vessels have been. This soft area extends down into the
root (or roots – some teeth such as molars have several
roots) where it is called the root canal. All of pulp and root
canal areas are cleaned out, with all the debris removed.
Thin files are then inserted into the pulp chamber and the
root canals in order to straighten and smooth their walls,
making them easier to fill. Sterilizing agents are used to
kill all bacteria. Finally, the dentist fills the pulp chamber
and root canals with gutta percha (which usually contains
cadmium or mercury salts (beware), or some other material
that has anti-bacterial properties.
ISSUES AND CONCERNS REGARDING ROOT CANALS
• The dentist can miss cleaning out an entire root canal,
especially in molars, which have extra root canals;
“accessory canals” which branch off of the main root
canals too small to be cleaned out. The soft tissue inside
then rots.
• Infection in the dentin. Surrounding the pulp chamber and
root canals is tooth dentin; the dentin, which makes up
most of the tooth structure, is permeated with large
numbers of microscopic sized tubules that are used to
nourish the tooth when it is alive. In a dead tooth, many
bacteria survive in the dentin tubules and they are mostly
anaerobic bacteria, which is far more toxic than regular
bacteria.
• The periodontal ligament that anchors the tooth to the
bony socket is often infected and it remains infected
despite what is done in a root canal treatment. It is
not inside the tooth; rather the tooth rests on it like a
hammock.
• The infection and its toxins can travel from the tooth
and its surrounding diseased tissue to infect and inflame
remote parts of the body such as heart (endocarditis),
the kidneys (nephritis), and the joints (arthritis). A doctor
may prescribe antibiotics in a determined attempt to
eliminate the infection from the body, but the antibiotics
cannot get into the root canaled tooth because there is no
blood circulation to carry the antibiotics to it. Neither can
the patient’s own immune system kill off the infections in |
