“Endodontic” is a Greek word in which “endo” means inside and “odont” means tooth.It is the highly specialized area of dentistry that deals with diseases occurring “inside” the tooth (pulp) and surrounding tissues. The pulp contains nerves, arterioles and venules lymphatic tissue and fibrous tissue. Endodontic treatment is required if any of these gets diseased or injured, and is unable to repair itself. Most common endodontics consist of root canal treatment or apicoectomy.
Endodontic treatment consists of three or four basic steps, but the number of visits depends on the degree of infection/inflammation and the degree of treatment difficulty. Root canal or endodontic therapy has a very high degree of success, up to 90%.
Indication for endodontics
- Tooth pain
- Abscesses
- Root fractures
- Traumatic Injuries
- Teeth with narrow or blocked canals
- Problematic tooth anatomy
- Persistent root end pathosis following root canal treatment
Technologies used by Endodontists
- Operating microscopes
- Ultrasonic and digital imaging
Common procedure done in endodontics
- Root canal therapy
- Incision and drainage
- Internal tooth bleaching to fix teeth that are darkened because of infiltration of decayed soft tissue into the dentin of teeth
- Periradicular surgery (apicoectomy)
