The dentist will determine the need for a root canal through one or several of the following methods: x-rays, the cavity test, selective anesthesia (to identify where the source of pain is when the patient doesn't know), thermal and electric testing, or by tapping on the problem tooth..
An endodontic evaluation will examine the tooth roots and pulp where the nerve of the tooth is located.
If there is damage to the tooth, it must be examined to determine whether or not endodontic treatment, such as a root canal or non-vital pulp therapy, is required..
The tooth has two anatomical parts, the crown and the root.
The crown is the top part that is exposed and visible above the gum (gingiva).
It is covered with enamel, which protects the underlying dentine.
The root of a tooth descends below the gum line anchoring the tooth in the mouth..
In anatomy, a canal (or canalis in Latin) is a tubular passage or channel which connects different regions of the body..
The root canal (also called the pulp canal) is the open space inside the root where the pulp extends from the pulp chamber.
Blood vessels and nerves from surrounding outside tissue enter the pulp through the root canal..
Endodontists Have Specialized Expertise
By limiting their practice to endodontics, endodontists focus exclusively on treatments of the dental pulp.
They complete an average of 25 root canal treatments a week, while general dentists typically do two..
The morphological and histological tables by Hess demonstrated the radicular and apical complexity of the roots, confirming the difficulty of removing the entire pulp tissue from the endodontic space and encouraging the search for new endodontic techniques and technologies
The total care of the pulp is called endodontics
For example, if decay has spread very deeply into the tooth but the infection has not yet entered the pulp, the dentist will seal the dentine tubules and may place a small amount of calcium hydroxide on an exposed part of the pulp to promote normal healing and keep the pulp alive
The endodontic space, at the level of the cervical one-third and the radicular middle one-third, has an oval shape in the buccal-palatal dimension; frequently two canals are present with the tendency to become one common round canal in the apical one-third (Fig
1 18a, b )
Field of dentistry
