Root canal treatment involves a sequence of steps that are done to heal the infected tooth.
Every tooth has two parts a crown and root. Nerves and blood vessels are present in the innermost structure of the tooth called as dental pulp. Any damage to this part of tooth indicates root canal treatment.
Severe acute pain can be caused by caries that invade the crown and the root. Such deep infections are usually associated with swelling which is generalized over the face or localized only to the affected tooth. Such severe pain and infection are very much relieved by this root canal treatment. Other than infection, injuries can also lead to root canal treatment.
As mentioned earlier, the treatment involves a series of procedure and therefore requires 2-5 clinical visits. The number of visits required is decided by the doctors according to the severity of the infection. X-Ray evaluations will be done through the procedure, to access the root canal damage and for the post, root filling on follow up of treatment.
Root canal treatment should definitely be followed by crown so as to retain the strength of the tooth that has lost all its vital structures. Failure of protecting the RCT treated tooth with a crown tends to fracture the tooth easily, as it is very fragile to the stresses.
RCT has very high success rates and the filled & crowned tooth may last over many years if proper hygiene is maintained.