If you think a root canal treatment is a one-size-fits-all procedure, then you’ll be surprised to know the varieties it has. That’s because not all infected and affected pulp and roots can be extracted in the same manner.
That’s why professional and experienced dentists use different methods and equipment to remove inflamed or infected materials from severely infected or inflamed teeth. At TruCare Dentistry, we perform different types of root canal procedures. In this blog post, we have discussed the different types of root canal treatments.
Different Types of Root Canal Treatment:
1. Nonsurgical root canal treatment: In this root canal treatment, a dentist makes a small pilot hole in the affected tooth, removes the infected nerve tissues, and seals the inner chamber. This type of root canal procedure is beneficial for extensively infected or decayed teeth, which a filling can’t fix.
By making a small hole, the dentist uses a series of small files into the hole and scrapes the tooth’s interiors to drag out the inflamed and infected pulp. After flushing the tooth canals with cleaning solutions, the dental professional seals and fills the tooth with fillers.
To perform a nonsurgical root canal procedure, an endodontist must have proper training as well as expertise and experience in using tiny files. That plays a huge role in the success rate of root canal treatment and can minimize the chance of failure and retreatment.
2. GentleWave root canal treatment: This root canal procedure is minimally invasive and uses files differently compared to a nonsurgical root canal treatment. The procedure uses sound waves and fluids to clean out the deepest and unreachable areas of the roots.
GentleWave root canal treatment is a less painful and more convenient type of root canal procedure compared to other root canal treatments. A study on pain and discomfort caused by different types of root canal treatments found that a majority of the respondents who have received GentleWave root canal treatment reported considerably less pain than those who got other types of root canal procedures performed on them.
GentleWave root canal treatment is usually completed in a single appointment. Some studies have also found that this treatment has a high rate of long-lasting success.
3. Apicoectomy: This retrograde root canal treatment is necessary if a nonsurgical root canal treatment is unsuccessful. This surgery is regarded as a microsurgical procedure.
In this procedure, a dentist removes the root tip of a tooth, prepares the root end cavity, and seals the canal with a biocompatible filling material. Over the next few months, the jaw bone heals the root where the infected part was removed.
As the procedure is more invasive than a nonsurgical root canal treatment, it can cause a little bit of pain and discomfort. The dentist will use local anesthesia to numb the pain. Minor swelling and discomfort are normal after an apicoectomy.
The recovery from this isn’t that long. As per a study published in PubMed, the pain and discomfort in one-third of the patients reduced steadily in the first few days and they abstained from taking any pain relievers. The patients who took pain medications after the procedure were immediately relieved of their pain and discomfort. Most of them resumed their daily activities the very next day of the procedure.
This procedure entails the use of sophisticated techniques and equipment such as ultrasonic preparation tips, micro instruments, dental operating microscopes, and calcium silicate-based filling materials. Apart from calcium-silicate, amalgam is used as a root-end filling. Composite resin, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), as well as modified versions of zinc oxide eugenol (ZOE) cement, are also used.
The cutting-edge technology and the high-quality materials account for a high success rate of the procedure. Several different studies published in PubMed found that the procedure has an average success rate of more than 90 percent. The success rate of the procedure is even higher than the average when experienced endodontists or dentists perform the procedure.
An apicoectomy is deemed a failed procedure if it doesn’t heal properly or fails to relieve symptoms. A study found that the main cause of the failure of the procedure is a gap in the filling at the root end.
4. Pulpectomy: In this procedure, a dentist or an endodontist removes the pulp completely from the crown and roots. The dental professional then fills the space with a filler material, which is designed to be readily reabsorbed as permanent teeth start to erupt.
The dentist will remove the coronal portion of the pulp that contains 90 percent of nerve tissue and leaves the pulp in the canals intact.
Like pulpotomy, this root canal treatment is useful in saving children’s teeth that are severely infected or inflamed due to dental trauma.
A pulpectomy is usually completed in one visit. The dentist takes X-rays to examine the root canals’ shape and detect the presence of infection and abscesses. In case the pulp is infected, the dentist uses a local anesthetic to numb the affected area and drills a hole into the tooth.
The dental professional removes the pulp completely by using precise dental instruments. After that, the dentist cleans the tooth, disinfects it, and prepares it for filling. Resorbable filling materials are used to fill the tooth.
5. Pulpotomy: While pulpectomy involves the complete removal of a tooth’s pulp, pulpotomy involves partial removal of the pulp. That’s why it’s also known as a partial pulpectomy.
The root canal procedure is performed on children’s primary teeth. It is minimally invasive and only works if a small part of a child’s inner nerve tissue in any of their tooth is infected or inflamed.
In this procedure, the endodontist removes only the pulp in the affected tooth’s upper chamber or the affected portion of the pulp and leaves the roots untouched.
In this root canal procedure, a dentist only removes the infected or inflamed pulp and leaves the healthy pulp as it is.
In this procedure, the dentist removes the infected or inflamed pulp tissue from the tooth’s coronal pulp chamber, thereby leaving the healthy pulp tissues as they are. The dentist gives various types of medications including calcium hydroxide, ferric sulfate, formocresol, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), or zinc-oxide eugenol.
Based on the extent of caries or infections, there are two types of pulpotomy techniques—vital pulpotomy and non-vital pulpotomy. The former is the preferred choice of treatment for treating healthy and freshly exposed pulp with a thin dentin wall. The latter, however, have low success rates, and sometimes it’s better to extract the affected tooth than have this procedure done. As a pulpotomy procedure can weaken the affected tooth, a stainless steel crown is recommended for reinforcement.
Taking everything into account
Even though there are several types of root canal treatments, their purpose is the same. That is the removal of inflamed or infected materials from severely infected teeth. Endodontists perform different types of root canal treatments to treat different stages of dental infections as well as their patients’ needs. If you’re looking for a root canal treatment in Roswell, GA, or any of these neighboring areas such as Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Marietta, Milton, Sandy Springs, or Woodstock, consider TruCare Dentistry. Call (678) 321-7575 to book an appointment today.