The goal of root canal treatment is to remove all infection and inflammation in the treated tooth. It is a time-consuming procedure that requires two or more visits.

In some cases, root canal treatment can save the tooth and avoid the need for tooth extraction and filling. This is most often necessary when the decay has already reached the pulp of the tooth, causing it to become inflamed. At this point, it is no longer enough to just fill the tooth, and root canal treatment is also necessary. In this case, the patient may present with acute complaints (swelling, throbbing, sensitivity to biting), but it is possible that the dead tooth and, primarily, the changes around the root apex that result from it are discovered as an incidental X-ray finding. In such cases, the changes seen on the X-ray as so-called thinning are due to toxins released from the infected root canal.

If the pulp is dead, we aim to remove the infected pulp, clean the canal, sterilize the infected dentin if possible, and also seal the canal hermetically.