Root Canal Treatment (Microscope)

Root canal treatment removes infected or damaged pulp from inside a tooth, disinfects the canals and seals them, relieving pain and saving a tooth that would otherwise need extraction. DEN-MED performs endodontics under Zeiss operating microscopes for accuracy in finding and cleaning the canals. Pricing depends on the tooth — front teeth have fewer canals than molars — and re-treatment of a failed previous filling is quoted higher.

Root canal (endodontic) treatment is carried out when the soft tissue inside a tooth — the pulp, containing its nerve and blood supply — becomes inflamed or infected through deep decay, a crack or trauma. The dentist removes the diseased pulp, carefully cleans and shapes the fine canals inside the roots, disinfects them and fills them with a sealing material, which relieves the associated pain and allows the natural tooth to be kept rather than extracted. At DEN-MED this work is performed under Zeiss operating microscopes, which magnify and illuminate the canal system so that narrow, curved or extra canals can be located and treated thoroughly. The procedure is done under local anaesthetic, often over one or more visits depending on the tooth and the level of infection. Because molars have more canals than incisors or premolars, treatment of back teeth takes longer and is priced accordingly; re-treating a tooth where a previous root filling has failed is more complex and quoted at a higher band. The clinic also handles related situations such as removing a fractured instrument, sealing a perforation or placing an apical MTA seal. After the canals are filled the tooth is usually weakened and is commonly rebuilt with a post-and-core and restored with a crown for long-term protection, which are separate stages. Root canal treatment suits adults with a deeply decayed, abscessed or traumatised tooth that is still restorable; the dentist confirms whether the tooth can be saved at assessment with an X-ray.