Root Canal / Endodontic terms and definitions.

Pulp Tissue -

A tooth's pulp tissue is that soft living tissue found inside of it. Most people equate the terms "pulp tissue" and "tooth nerve."
     Although pulp tissue does contain nerve fibers, it is also composed of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and connective tissue. It is also sometimes is referred to as "dental pulp" or "tooth pulp."
     The region inside a tooth where its pulp tissue is located is typically designated as two distinct areas. They are the "pulp chamber" and "root canals." These regions are not, however, precisely differentiated as to where one ends and the other begins.

Dental Pulp -

A synonymous term for "pulp tissue" or "tooth pulp."

Tooth Pulp -

A term synonymous with "pulp tissue" or "dental pulp."

Nerve Tissue -

This term is frequently used to refer to a tooth's pulp tissue. True to the use of this term, a tooth's pulp tissue does contain nerve fibers. Most precisely, however, it also contains blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and other connective tissues.

Pulp Chamber -

That hollow space found within the crown portion of a tooth (that part of a tooth that lies above the gum line) that contains its pulp tissue. Every tooth has a single pulp chamber, to which the tooth's root canal(s) connect.

Root Canal -

A hollow passageway that extends from a root's tip to the tooth's pulp chamber. Each tooth root will have at least one root canal and possibly more. A tooth's root canals contain pulp tissue.

Accessory Root Canal -

A lateral branching of a tooth's main root canal, also called a "lateral canal."

Access Cavity -

That hole that a dentist makes in the crown portion of a tooth that extends to its pulp chamber. This is the opening through which the tooth's (non-surgical) root canal treatment is performed.

Endodontics -

This term is derived from the two Greek words "endo" (inside) and "odons" (tooth). As the definitions of these words suggest, "endodontics" is that field of dentistry that attends to those problems associated with the inner aspects of a tooth.
     More specifically, "endodontics" is that branch of dentistry that is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disease processes that involve a tooth's pulpal tissue ("nerve tissue"), as well as those tissues that surround the root of a tooth (these tissues are often affected by those disease processes associated with a tooth's pulp).

Endodontic Therapy -

This is an equivalent term for root canal treatment. The terms "endodontic therapy," "endodontic treatment," "root canal treatment," and "root canal therapy" can all be considered to be equivalent terms.

Endodontist -

A type of dentist who is a root canal treatment specialist. To receive this designation, after the completion of dental school (four years) the dentist must continue on with their studies, for an additional two years of specialty education in the field of endodontics.
     An endodontist will limit their practice to only that of diagnosing the need for and providing root canal treatment. This means that while an endodontist may perform your tooth's root canal therapy, your general dentist (typically) will be the person who completes the treatment by placing the final restoration (such as a dental crown).

Non-Surgical Endodontic Therapy -

The most common form of root canal treatment. During non-surgical treatment, the dentist accesses the inner aspects of the tooth through an "access cavity" that extends through the crown portion of the tooth to its pulp chamber. (Compare with Surgical Endodontic Therapy below.)

Surgical Endodontic Therapy -

Root canal treatment involving some type of surgical procedure that is needed as a means to gain access to that portion of a tooth receiving treatment.
     The most common type of surgical endodontic procedure is the "apicoectomy." During this procedure, the dentist accesses the root of the tooth (through gum tissue and bone) and removes the very tip of it, as well as associated inflamed or infected tissue.