Root canals is the commonly used term for the main canals within the dentin of a tooth. These are part of the natural cavity within a tooth that consists of the dental pulp chamber, the main canals and more intricated anatomical branches, that may connect the root canals to each other or to the root surface of the tooth. Root canals are filled with a highly vascularized, dense connective tissue, the dental pulp. Inflammation or infection of the pulp tissue may occur. The most common reasons are caries and tooth fractures that allow microorganisms, mostly bacteria from the oral flora or their byproducts access to the pulp chamber or the root canals. If this process is irreversible, an endodontic treatment is advised in most of the cases and a general dentist or specialist (endodontist) should be seen for advice and treatment.

Endodontic treatment, coupled with internal tooth bleaching, is also used to fix teeth that have blackened because of infiltration of decayed soft tissue into the dentin in the teeth, most often seen in incisors that have been injured through a sudden impact.

Tooth structure

Pulp tissue removed from a root canal during endodontic therapy by a size 20 broach file.

At the center of a tooth is a hollow area that houses soft tissue, known as pulp. This hollow area contains a relatively wide space towards the chewing surface of the tooth called the pulp chamber. This pulp chamber is connected to the tip of the root of the tooth via thin hollow pipe-like canals—hence, the term "root canal". Human teeth normally have one to four canals, with teeth toward the back of the mouth having the most. These canals run through the centre of the roots like pencil lead runs through the length of a pencil. The tooth receives nutrition through the blood vessels and nerves traversing these canals. Occasionally, a cavity on the outside of the tooth may allow this soft tissue to become infected. If left untreated, a serious jaw infection can result. The infection and inflammation is very painful in most cases. Treatment should take place before this happens.

Treatment

Endodontic therapy is a sequence of treatments for the pulp of a tooth whose end result is the elimination of infection and protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. Although this set of procedures is commonly referred to as a root canal, this term is imprecise; root canals and their associated pulp chamber are the anatomical hollows within a tooth which are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and a number of other cellular entities, whereas endodontic therapy includes the complete removal of these structures, the subsequent cleaning, shaping and decontamination of these hollows with the use of tiny files and irrigating solutions and the obturation, or filling, of the decontaminated root canals with an inert filling, such as gutta percha and a usually eugenol-based cement. Usually a crown is needed to stop the fracture of the tooth as it will be brittle after root canal treatment.

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