Endodontists perform a variety of procedures including root canal therapy, endodontic retreatment, surgery, treating cracked teeth, and treating dental trauma. Root canal therapy is one of the most common procedures. If the pulp (containing nerves, arterioles, venules, lymphatic tissue, and fibrous tissue) becomes diseased or injured, endodontic treatment is required to save the tooth.
Root canals and their associated pulp chamber are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and othercellular entities. Endodontic therapy involves the removal of these structures, the subsequent shaping, cleaning, and decontamination of the hollows with tiny files and irrigating solutions, and the obturation(filling) of the decontaminated canals with an inert filling such as gutta percha and typically a eugenol-based cement.
An apicectomy is the removal of the tip of the root of the tooth, known as the apex. This minor surgical operation, usually carried out under a local anaesthetic, is performed if infection or cysts persist after root canal treatment or if your dentist is unable to seal the root tip with a normal root filling.
