A root canal is the naturally occurring anatomic space within the root of a tooth. It consists of the pulp chamber, the main canal(s), and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.
Toothache, also known as dental pain or tooth pain, is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or pain referred to the teeth by non-dental diseases. When severe it may impact sleep, eating, and other daily activities.
The pulp is the connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels, and odontoblasts that comprise the innermost layer of a tooth. The pulp's activity and signalling processes regulate its behaviour.
Dental explorers, also known as sickle probes, are tools found in the dental arsenal that are frequently utilised. The explorer is designed with a sharp tip at the end to improve tactile perception.
Dens invaginatus (DI), also known as tooth within a tooth, is a rare dental malformation and a developmental anomaly where there is an infolding of enamel into dentin. The prevalence of this condition is 0.3 - 10%, affecting males more frequently than females. The condition presents in two forms, coronal involving tooth crown and radicular involving tooth root, with the former being more common.
Commonly known as a dental cyst, the periapical cyst is the most common odontogenic cyst. It may develop rapidly from a periapical granuloma, as a consequence of untreated chronic periapical periodontitis.
A dental abscess is a localized collection of pus associated with a tooth. The most common type of dental abscess is a periapical abscess, and the second most common is a periodontal abscess. In a periapical abscess, usually the origin is a bacterial infection that has accumulated in the soft, often dead, pulp of the tooth. This can be caused by tooth decay, broken teeth or extensive periodontal disease. A failed root canal treatment may also create a similar abscess.
A post and core crown is a type of dental restoration required where there is an inadequate amount of sound tooth tissue remaining to retain a conventional crown. A post is cemented into a prepared root canal, which retains a core restoration, which retains the final crown.
Root canal treatment is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth which is intended to result in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. Root canals, and their associated pulp chamber, are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and other cellular entities. Together, these items constitute the dental pulp.
Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is an alkaline, cementitious dental repair material. MTA is used for creating apical plugs during apexification, repairing root perforations during root canal therapy, and treating internal root resorption. It can be used for root-end filling material and as pulp capping material. It has better pulpotomy outcomes than calcium hydroxide or formocresol, and may be the best known material, as of 2018 data. For pulp capping, it has a success rate higher than calcium hydroxide, and indistinguishable from Biodentin.
Combined periodontic-endodontic lesions are localized, circumscribed areas of bacterial infection originating from either dental pulp, periodontal tissues surrounding the involved tooth or teeth or both.
In dental anatomy, the apical foramen, literally translated "small opening of the apex," is the tooth's natural opening, found at the root's very tip—that is, the root apex — whereby an artery, vein, and nerve enter the tooth and commingle with the tooth's internal soft tissue, called pulp. Additionally, the apical foramen is the point where the pulp meets the periodontal tissues, the connective tissues that surround and support the tooth. The foramen is located 0.5mm to 1.5mm from the apex of the tooth. Each tooth has an apical foramen.
An electronic apex locator is an electronic device used in endodontics to determine the position of the apical constriction and thus determine the length of the root canal space. The apex of the root has a specific resistance to electrical current, and this is measured using a pair of electrodes typically hooked into the lip and attached to an endodontic file.
Pulp necrosis is a clinical diagnostic category indicating the death of cells and tissues in the pulp chamber of a tooth with or without bacterial invasion. It is often the result of many cases of dental trauma, caries and irreversible pulpitis.
In dentistry, the smear layer is a layer found on root canal walls after root canal instrumentation. It consists of microcrystalline and organic particle debris. It was first described in 1975 and research has been performed since then to evaluate its importance in bacteria penetration into the dentinal tubules and its effects on endodontic treatment. More broadly, it is the organic layer found over all hard tooth surfaces.
Periapical periodontitis or apical periodontitis (AP) is an acute or chronic inflammatory lesion around the apex of a tooth root, most commonly caused by bacterial invasion of the pulp of the tooth. It is a likely outcome of untreated dental caries, and in such cases it can be considered a sequela in the natural history of tooth decay, irreversible pulpitis and pulpal necrosis. Other causes can include occlusal trauma due to 'high spots' after restoration work, extrusion from the tooth of root filling material, or bacterial invasion and infection from the gums. Periapical periodontitis may develop into a periapical abscess, where a collection of pus forms at the end of the root, the consequence of spread of infection from the tooth pulp, or into a periapical cyst, where an epithelial lined, fluid-filled structure forms.
Regenerative endodontic procedures is defined as biologically based procedures designed to replace damaged structures such as dentin, root structures, and cells of the pulp-dentin complex. This new treatment modality aims to promote normal function of the pulp. It has become an alternative to heal apical periodontitis. Regenerative endodontics is the extension of root canal therapy. Conventional root canal therapy cleans and fills the pulp chamber with biologically inert material after destruction of the pulp due to dental caries, congenital deformity or trauma. Regenerative endodontics instead seeks to replace live tissue in the pulp chamber. The ultimate goal of regenerative endodontic procedures is to regenerate the tissues and the normal function of the dentin-pulp complex.
Biofilling, also known as the orthograde canal grafting technique or 4D sealing, is an endodontic root canal obturation technique with a Bioceramic material after root canal preparation and enlargement procedure.
Periapical granuloma, also sometimes referred to as a radicular granuloma or apical granuloma, is an inflammation at the tip of a dead (nonvital) tooth. It is a lesion or mass that typically starts out as an epithelial lined cyst, and undergoes an inward curvature that results in inflammation of granulation tissue at the root tips of a dead tooth. This is usually due to dental caries or a bacterial infection of the dental pulp. Periapical granuloma is an infrequent disorder that has an occurrence rate between 9.3 to 87.1 percent. Periapical granuloma is not a true granuloma due to the fact that it does not contain granulomatous inflammation; however, periapical granuloma is a common term used.
Apexification is a method of dental treatment to induce a calcific barrier in a root with incomplete formation or open apex of a tooth with necrotic pulp. Pulpal involvement usually occurs as a consequence of trauma or caries involvement of young or immature permanent teeth. As a sequelae of untreated pulp involvement, loss of pulp vitality or necrotic pulp took place for the involved teeth.
