Endodontic treatment, also known as root canal treatment or nerve removal, is a dental procedure that saves teeth affected by severe infections or inflammation by removing the diseased dental pulp (nerve, blood vessels), cleaning and disinfecting the root canal system, sealing them tightly to prevent reinfection, and ultimately restoring the tooth's function.

There are various causes that lead to the need for endodontic treatment. The most common causes of inflammation or infection of the dental pulp are: deep dental caries, severely damaged fillings, dental trauma. General and local infections can also reach the dental pulp. The fact is that severe toothache is a typical sign of deep dental infections.

Depending on the severity of the inflammation of the dental pulp, endodontic diseases are divided into two types: pulpitis and periodontitis ..

Pulpitis is one of the most common complications of caries and requires immediate treatment. The pulp is a living tissue, which includes nerve fibers, muscle fibers, capillaries, connective tissue and cells responsible for the nutrition and vitality of the tooth. For this reason, pulp inflammation causes intense pain, and lack of treatment almost always leads to destruction of the root canals, the formation of a cyst, the development of periodontitis, and even tooth loss. Pulpitis can be caused by exogenous (chemical, traumatic, thermal, etc.) and endogenous (penetration of bacterial plaque/untreated caries) factors.

Pulpitis can be acute or chronic. The acute form is manifested by intense pulsating pain, which often worsens at night or upon contact with various thermal or food stimuli. Chronic pulpitis has a slower evolution, can return with periods of exacerbation, and sometimes manifests subtly, increasing the risk of cyst formation. It is important to understand that the pulp is not just a “nerve”, but a complex micro-circulatory system. During inflammation, intra-pulpal pressure increases rapidly, causing severe pain and damage to the vascular-nerve bundle.

Periodontitis is a serious complication of untreated caries. It occurs in the form of an inflammatory process at the tip of the tooth root. As a rule, this inflammation is the body's reaction to a complication of untreated dental caries. Microbes that penetrate the carious cavity, descend into the root canal and inflame the nerve (a condition called pulpitis). Without proper treatment, microbes multiply and penetrate the hole at the tip of the root, called the "apex". Upon exiting the apex, microbes affect the tissues and ligaments surrounding the tooth root. This severe inflammatory condition of the tooth's supporting tissues (gums, alveolar bone) caused by bacteria leads to bone loss and, if untreated, to tooth loss. Some symptoms of periodontitis are tooth mobility, the sensation of a "bulky" tooth, pain upon contact with the tooth, purulent discharge either from the tooth or from the fistula that forms on the adjacent gum. Treatment involves eliminating the infection, deep cleaning and rigorous hygiene. Among the applicable procedures are pulp removal and root canal filling, followed by tooth reconstruction, in complex cases, root amputation or apical resection, cystectomy (cyst removal surgery).

Advantages of endodontic treatment:

• eliminates pain and infection
• saves the tooth from extraction
• avoiding expensive treatments