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Years ago, a badly infected tooth was doomed to be pulled.
Today, that's a last resort. Root canal treatment consists of:
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the removal of the infected pulp that lies within the root canals
of the tooth, and
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the sealing of the root ends to prohibit any
further infection.
The pulp is the tooth's center core of soft tissue (nerves,
blood vessels and fibers). When the dentist removes a "nerve"
from a tooth, he really removes pulpal tissue that contains the nerve.
Removing the pulp from the tooth does not produce a "dead"
tooth. It will be very much alive and functioning because it has a
source of blood and nerve supply from the surrounding tissues that
hold it in place. The tooth will have no sense of feeling because
the nerve has been removed, but the tooth itself will be fine: it
should last as long as your other teeth and could even be eventually
used as an anchor tooth for a denture or bridge. |
