Inside the root of the tooth, there is a vascular-nerve package that feeds the tooth, popularly known as the ‘tooth nerve’. In case this tissue is damaged and/or inflamed due to untreated caries, the process of removing the tissue, shaping and cleaning the root canal, and then filling the canal with fillers is called root canal treatment. Infected nerves because of cracks and fractures in the teeth, tooth decay, mal practicing, and the loss of vitality of the nerves in the canals of the tooth must be cleaned. This is possible with root canal treatment.
Depending on the condition of the tooth, root canal treatment can be done in one or two sessions. For an infected tooth, several sessions may be required to ensure that the infection is completely eliminated. An uncomplicated root canal treatment is usually completed in a single session.
During root canal treatment, the nerves of the tooth are removed, due to this reason canal treatment is not affected by external stimuli. After the treatment, there may be slight pain or sensitivity in chewing for the first few weeks because the tooth needs time to heal.
If the root canal-treated tooth is one of the anterior teeth or if there is a small amount of material loss, the tooth can be reconstructed with a filling. However, a crown is usually needed on the posterior teeth. Some teeth need a substructure to be supported before a crown is made. This infrastructure is called “core”. “Post” is used to keep this infrastructure in place. A part of the filling material in the root canals should be removed and a place for the post should be prepared. As a result of root canal treatment, the tooth becomes more fragile as it loses its vitality. Since there is a lot of material loss in the teeth undergoing root canal treatment and they become more fragile, it should be preferred to cover the teeth after the treatment.
The success rate of root canal treatments performed under sterile conditions is between 90-95%. If the nerve tissue that is not cleaned during the treatment is left, the root canal filling and the upper filling are not done adequately, the infiltration of microorganisms into the canal, the formation of perforation or fractures during the treatment, and the failure of the root canal treatment is mentioned. We can understand an unsuccessful root canal treatment by the symptoms of pain in the teeth, spontaneous pain, swelling and redness at the root tip. Unsuccessful root canal treatment is renewed and the treatment is repeated. If this procedure is insufficient, apical resection is applied, the root tip is surgically reached, the infection is cleared and closed. If the root canal treatment is repeated and surgical intervention is insufficient, tooth extraction should be considered.
Apical resection is the surgical removal of the inflamed part of the root of the tooth in the bone.
Apical resection surgery; is an operation that takes about 30 minutes with local anesthesia. A small incision is made in the gum; The infected tissue is reached and the area is cleaned, and then it is closed by suturing.
Once these are done, the infection will heal and allow time for new bone tissue to form.
