Private Dentists in Central London
020 7580 2551/1828
ENDODONTICS
We are often faced with teeth which have not been well treated. Typically not all the canals have been found or the canals have not been cleaned to their fullest extent (Figure 3). Our Endodontists are expert at managing these cases, locating missed canals and negotiating complex anatomy (Figure 4 ).
Endodontics deals with the tooth pulp (in the tooth's root canal) and the tissues surrounding the root of a tooth. 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 canal or Endodontic treatment is carried out to save seriously damaged and infected teeth.
Figure 1. Patient having pain and swelling from a tooth that was root canal treated 5 years previously. Note the dark area around the roots. This is the abscess caused by the canals not being properly disinfected, and despite the root canals appearing to be well filled to the correct length in the roots.
Figure 2. The skill of the specialist Endodontist is in the proper management and disinfection of these canals.
This is a subtlety in treatment which separates a specialist from the competent general clinician.
12 months after re-cleaning and disinfecting the canals the tooth is no longer painful and the dark area has healed with new bone.
Figure 3. The canals are under prepared and not treated to their full length. Notice the dark area around the root.
Figure 4. The canals are now properly prepared and to their full length.
Endodontic treatment
Endodontic treatment is a painless, technically demanding, process but when carried out by our highly qualified and experienced Endodontic Specialists is very successful and totally safe.
Modern root canal treatment involves a microscopic approach to evaluating root canal anatomy. This allows effective cleaning of the root canal system which completely eradicates the pain associated with an infected tooth.
Endodontic re-treatment
The vast majority of the endodontic treatment carried out in the practice is redoing work that has been carried out elsewhere. Unfortunately it has frequently been done to a sub-optimal standard and this has resulted in persistent infection. Most of the time it is very easy for us to see that the canals have not been prepared all the way to the tip of the roots. We are finding increasing numbers of cases where new instrument techniques, widely available to dentists, make canals appear to be well prepared but where there is still persistent infection (see Figure 1)
Before treatment
After treatment
Plowman & Partners
Centre of Dental Clinical Excellence
London
No specialist endodontist would ever claim a 100% success rate but knowing how to manage unsuccessful cases properly is the key to a positive outcome. Our two Endodontists have over 30 years of experience between them and have managed countless complex cases in that time.
Of course there is no substitute for ‘getting it right in the first place’ so we would much rather treat your infection from the start.
This page describes endodontic treatment and endodontic re-treatment. Please click to navigate to the next page, covering Advanced Endodonics
For further information and a no-obligation discussion please do contact us on 020 7580 2551/1828
Page author: Graham Bailey