How Root Canal Therapy Works

A “Root Canal” is needed when the nerve of a tooth is negatively affected by decay or infection. In order to save the tooth, the living tissue inside the tooth(called the “pulp”), nerves, bacteria, and any decay are removed and the resulting space is filled with special, medicated, dental materials, which restore the tooth to its full function. Having a root canal done on a tooth is the treatment of choice to save a tooththat otherwise would die and have to be removed. Many patients believe that removing a tooth that has problems is the solution, but what is not realized is that extracting (pulling) a tooth will ultimately be more costly and cause significant problems for adjacent teeth.