Endodontics
Endodontics deals with treating the inside of the tooth – the dental pulp. The pulp is the soft tissue within the tooth that carries its nerves and blood vessels. When deep caries, an injury or repeated procedures cause the pulp to become inflamed or die, the tooth needs endodontic treatment.
The goal of endodontics is to save your own tooth, which would otherwise often have to be removed. By precisely cleaning, disinfecting and filling the root canals we remove the inflammation and create the conditions for the tooth to remain functional and stable for many years.
We most often turn to endodontic treatment when the dental nerve becomes inflamed or dies. You may feel spontaneous pain, pain on biting, prolonged sensitivity to cold or heat, or swelling; the tooth may darken; or the inflammation may only show up on an X-ray.
Sometimes a tooth causes no obvious trouble even though inflammation is already present in the bone at the root tip. This is why regular check-ups and proper diagnostics matter so much – they let us find the problem in time and save the tooth.
Treatment begins with removing the inflamed or dead tissue from inside the tooth. The root canals are then cleaned, disinfected and shaped with great precision, so that they can finally be sealed tightly with a dedicated filling material.
Precision is everything in endodontics: root canals are often extremely narrow, curved and anatomically demanding. That is why at Stomatoestetika Ovsenik we work with a microscope and with modern instruments and materials that make treatment more predictable and of higher quality.
With local anaesthesia, endodontic treatment today is normally painless. Its purpose is to remove the cause of the pain and inflammation, so the trouble usually subsides once treatment has been carried out successfully.
For a few days afterwards the tooth may be sensitive to biting or touch – a normal tissue response that gradually fades.
An endodontically treated tooth has usually already been heavily damaged by caries, an old filling or a fracture. Root canal treatment alone is therefore not the end of the story. Once it is complete, the tooth needs a proper restoration – a filling, an onlay, an overlay or a crown, depending on how much tooth substance remains.
The right final restoration protects the tooth from cracking, reinfection and functional overload, significantly extending its life.
Success depends on the condition of the tooth, the extent of the inflammation, the anatomy of the root canals and the quality of the final restoration. With precise work, good oral hygiene and regular check-ups, an endodontically treated tooth can stay in the mouth for many years.
Attending follow-up visits matters, as they let us monitor the healing of the inflammation and the tooth's long-term stability.
Sometimes a tooth that has already had root canal treatment becomes inflamed again, or the inflammation persists. In such cases we may repeat the endodontic treatment – a so-called revision. The old filling is removed and the canals are cleaned, disinfected and filled anew. The success rate of repeated treatment is about 10% lower than that of primary treatment.
If the root canals cannot be adequately re-treated, surgical procedures such as an apicoectomy are an option in selected cases. The aim of all of these, wherever sensible and possible, is to keep your own tooth.