The root canal procedure. –

The steps of endodontic therapy.

This page provides an outline of the steps a dentist follows when they provide conventional root canal treatment for a tooth. (The basic procedure usually/most frequently performed for teeth.)

Other terms for this procedure are “non-surgical” and “orthograde” endodontic therapy. Both of these names indicate that the procedure is performed through an opening made in the tooth’s crown (the portion that lies above the gum line), as opposed to accessing the root directly via some type of surgical procedure.

FYI: Collectively, the three videos found on this page provide a quick overview of the root canal treatment process. Our most detailed information, however, is found in this page’s text.

Note: Dental-Picture-Show’s content and videos have now been absorbed into Animated-Teeth.com.

Step 1 – Placing the rubber dam.

After numbing you up, your dentist will first “isolate” your tooth by way of placing a rubber dam. A dental dam is simply a sheet of “rubber” (actually, latex in most cases) that’s pulled over your tooth so it pokes through (see picture below).

As shown on our What is a rubber dam? page Pictures | Diagrams, because the portion of the tooth that sticks through the dam now lies in a region where its environment can be controlled, it can be kept contaminant-free during its procedure.

A rubber dam creates a controlled environment where successful endodontic therapy can be performed.

Why is tooth isolation so important?

• One of the fundamental goals of root canal therapy is removing contaminants from within the tooth. Why that’s important.
• The barrier created by a dam aids with this goal by preventing saliva (a source of bacteria and debris) from gaining entry into the tooth while its work is being performed.

▲ Section references – Ingle

Step 2 – Creating the access cavity.

As a start point for actually beginning to perform your tooth’s work, your dentist will need to create an opening to its nerve space. This step is called creating the “access cavity.”

The hole through which the dentist performs their work.

• The process itself is simple enough. Your dentist will just drill into your tooth, not terribly unlike when a filling is placed, but deeper into it.
• As shown in our picture here, with back teeth the opening is characteristically made on the tooth’s chewing surface. With front ones, it’s made on their backside (like in our picture above).

A common question is what becomes of a dental crown if an access opening is made through it. We discuss this matter on our page: Issues involved when treating teeth that have dental crowns. Can the crown be reused?

Step 3 – Identifying all of the tooth’s root canals.

A surgical operating microscope may be used.

These instruments aid the dentist in discovering all of the tooth’s root canals by way of helping them to identify the openings of minute canals that might otherwise be overlooked by the naked eye.

Note: Dental-Picture-Show’s content and videos have now been absorbed into Animated-Teeth.com.

Step 4 – Measuring the length of the tooth.

Your dentist’s goal will be one of treating the entire length of each of your tooth’s root canals but not beyond. Doing so is not only important for creating treatment success but also helps to minimize complications with post-operative pain. What causes it.

Meeting this goal means that your dentist must measure the length of each of your tooth’s root canals. This measurement is typically calculated to a tolerance of/has an accuracy of 1/2 millimeter (about 1/50th of an inch). (Hargreaves)

Setting the parameters for this measurement.

• Some studies suggest that treatment should extend all of the way to the root’s apex (tip). Others seem to have concluded that a point 1 to 2 mm shorter gives a better chance of case success. (Hargreaves)
• To confuse matters even further, other studies have concluded that the endpoint chosen should be influenced by both the current status of the tooth’s pulp tissue (i.e. necrotic, vital, inflamed), and the degree to which the tooth’s pathology has affected its surrounding bone tissue. (Hargreaves)

Obviously, choosing the treatment terminus will simply be a judgment call that your dentist will need to make.

▲ Section references – Hargreaves

Measuring the length of a canal.

How does a dentist make canal length calculations?

a) By taking an x-ray.

Traditionally, dentists have established/confirmed/documented canal length measurements by way of taking an x-ray after a root canal file What’s this? has been positioned in it. (Since root canal files are metal, they show up distinctly on an x-ray.)

b) Electronic measurements.

In recent decades, the use of electronic length-measuring devices has become commonplace. These units are referred to as “electronic apex locators.” (The word “apex” refers to the tip of the tooth’s root.)

We discuss the steps associated with both processes on our “Measuring the ‘working length’ for root canal file use” page. How it’s done. And explain the strengths and weaknesses of both methods too.

Several individual measurements may be needed for a single tooth.

A separate length measurement will need to be made for each of the tooth’s individual root canals. (Teeth can have several canals and/or roots. It depends on the kind of tooth.)

Step 5 – Cleaning and shaping the tooth’s root canals.

The next step of the root canal process involves “cleaning and shaping” the tooth’s root canal system (the tooth’s pulp chamber and each of its root canals Diagram.).

• Its cleaning aspect removes nerve tissue (live and/or dead), as well as bacteria, toxins and other debris harbored inside the tooth.  Why this is needed.
• Shaping refers to a process where the contours of the tooth’s canals are enlarged and flared, so they have a shape that’s more ideal for the procedure’s filling and sealing step. Why that’s important.

▲ Section references – Tronstad

Root canal files.

a) What tools does a dentist use?

What do they look like?

Files look like tapered straight pins but on close inspection you can see, or feel, that their surface is grooved, not smooth. While files come in a couple of different designs, in general terms, they can mostly just be thought of as miniaturized rasps.

Related information – If you’d like more details about files, we delve into this subject much more extensively on our page: What are root canal files? A to Z.

The primary cutting action of a file is on the upstroke.

b) How are the files used?

Filing motion.

Aids to the filing process.

• EDTA is a chealating agent, and as such softens the mineralized walls of the canal so the file’s action will be more effective.
• Additionally, its thick, wet consistency serves as a lubricant for the filing action.

▲ Section references – Ingle

c) Your dentist will use several files.

The same general routine will be used with each member of an entire set of files (probably at least six or more), each of which has a slightly larger diameter.

Each file is worked for a number of repetitions (until it starts to feel loose in the canal). The dentist then inserts the next larger size file and continues the process.

Cleaning and shaping enlarges and flares the canal.

• Enlarging the canal has a cleansing effect by way of removing the surface layer from its walls. (This layer has often become impregnated with debris and contaminants.)
• A wider canal can be irrigated more effectively (see next section).
• It gives the canal a shape that’s better suited for the sealing process (discussed below).

d) Your dentist may have a handpiece that can manipulate the files for them.

At least some of the root canal files that your dentist uses in your tooth will be worked by hand. But they may also have a specialized handpiece (dental drill) that can be used for this purpose. We discuss aspects of rotary-file endodontic systems here. The benefits for you.

When this type of set up is used, a tooth’s root canal system can usually be cleaned and shaped more rapidly. That can be an important factor in making one-visit root canal treatment Verses two. possible for a case.

Tooth irrigation is an important part of the cleaning and shaping process.

• At a minimum, they’ll use this as a means of flushing debris and contaminants from within it. Doing so enhances the effectiveness of their cleaning efforts.
• But another important function that irrigation provides is to flush away loose debris before it has a chance of being compacted (by the up and down action of the files) into a plug or blockage.

a) What kinds of irrigating solutions are used?

• Conceivably, just sterile water or saline solution could be used to flush out debris.
• By far, the most frequently used irrigating solution is sodium hypochlorite (bleach, Clorox). That’s because it’s effective in killing bacteria and digesting organic debris (two functions that can help to disinfect the tooth’s root canal system). It also happens to be quite inexpensive.
• Because different solutions have their own set of advantages, your dentist may consider it optimal to use more than one kind of solution during your tooth’s treatment.

▲ Section references – Hargreaves

Canal irrigation.

b) How is tooth irrigation performed?

• This is a normal looking, smallish syringe that has a bent/curved, blunt-tipped needle.
• The needle is rested inside your tooth and the solution is gently expressed.

  (There’s nothing sharp about the needle, you are not getting a shot. Gently flushing out the tooth is the goal here, no solution pressure is generated.)

• A normal dental suction device is used to catch any excess, or to remove the bulk of the solution from inside the tooth.

c) Why irrigation is such an important part of the root canal procedure.

It’s easy to imagine how placing a liquid inside a tooth has the ability to seep into minute nooks and crannies, which are precisely the locations that are impossible for root canal files to access.

And especially in the case where the solution itself has properties that help to disinfect the tooth, this ability can substantially enhance the effectiveness of the dentist’s work.

• Expect that your dentist will repeatedly irrigate your tooth, seemingly ad infinitum.
• A minimal goal is to have the tooth’s root canal system exposed to the irrigant for a period of 30 minutes or longer. (Darcey)

▲ Section references – Darcey

Will your tooth’s treatment be completed in one or two appointments?

At this point in your tooth’s procedure, a potential stopping point has been reached. Its interior has been thoroughly cleansed and properly shaped, and is now ready to be sealed (have its hollow interior filled in).

• With some cases, the dentist will go ahead and proceed with this process immediately. (One-visit endodontic therapy.)
• With others, they may feel that it’s best to wait about a week, or even two or three, before the completion of the tooth’s procedure is performed. (Two or more visit treatment.)

For a discussion about how this decision is reached, use this link: How many appointments will your root canal therapy take? What decides?

• As a process that further disinfects your tooth’s root canal system, your dentist may place calcium hydroxide paste inside its canals and let it sit until your next appointment.

  Doing so can be especially effective, and a primary reason why a two-appointment approach is chosen.

• They will also need to place a temporary filling that seals the access cavity opening they have performed their work through, so to keep contaminants from reentering your tooth.

  (Related: Precautions you should take with this filling. Consequences.)

Note: Dental-Picture-Show’s content and videos have now been absorbed into Animated-Teeth.com.

Step 6 – Sealing the tooth.

Gutta percha points come in sizes that exactly match the dimensions of root canal files.

a) What type of root canal filling material is used?

b) Placing the gutta percha.

One method of gutta percha placement that a dentist might use is referred to as “lateral condensation.” When performing this process:

(Note: We describe and illustrate this process for a single-rooted tooth that has just one root canal. In actuality, different kinds of teeth frequently have more than one root canal and/or roots. Examples. For those that do, this process will need to be repeated for each individual canal.)

Sealing the tooth’s root canal system with gutta percha.

1. The dentist will first select an initial cone of gutta percha for the canal. The size chosen will be the same one as the last (largest) file used to clean and shape the canal’s full length (see picture above). This is termed the “master point.”
2. The dentist will evaluate how the master point fits inside its canal both by the way it feels as it’s worked into position, and by visualizing it on an x-ray that they’ll take. It’s important that this first cone extends the full length of the canal, and fits snugly in the region of the root’s tip.

   If it doesn’t, the cone can be removed and adjusted by way of trimming it shorter. Or on occasion, the dentist may find that the next size smaller, or larger, gutta percha cone makes a better choice.

3. The cone is then removed from the tooth. A sealer (a thin paste) is then applied to its sides, and possibly directly inside the root canal too, and the cone is then reinserted back into position. (Frame “A” in our animation below.)

   (The paste enhances the seal that’s created by way of filling in any voids that exist between the gutta percha and the walls of the canal.)

Because a master point has a snug fit in the portion of the canal that lies at the root’s tip, that cone alone (its single mass of material in conjunction with a thin layer of surrounding sealer) will create the needed seal for that region.

Higher up however, usually the cleaning and shaping process has flared the taper of the upper portion of the canal significantly. And in order to create a solid (free of voids) mass inside the canal to seal it, the dentist will need to place additional cones of gutta percha in this region.

1. The dentist will insert a “spreader” into the canal. (This instrument’s working end looks like a root canal file, with the exception that its sides are smooth. It’s used as a conically shaped wedge).

Working a spreader inside a root canal. (The master point is visible.)

2. The spreader is worked laterally (side to side, hence the term “lateral condensation” for this procedure) to compact the gutta percha that’s already been placed up against the walls of the canal.
3. An “accessory point” (a gutta percha point smaller than the master point) is then dipped in the sealer and inserted into the space that’s been created by the spreader.
4. This process is then repeated until the entire space within the flared portion of the canal has been filled in (sealed). (Frame “B” in our animation.)

▲ Section references – Tronstad

Lateral condensation technique is just one of the methods your dentist might use. But all processes are the same in the sense that their goal is simply filling in (sealing) the tooth’s root canal system with a solid core of material (usually gutta percha and sealer).

X-ray of a tooth’s completed treatment and temporary filling.

Step 7 – Placing a temporary filling.

(Related: Precautions you should take with temporary restorations. And the consequences.)

Step 8 – The root canal process has now been completed but your tooth still requires additional work.

At this point, the individual steps of performing the root canal procedure have been finished but your tooth’s treatment is not yet complete. A permanent restoration must still be placed.

Choosing an appropriate type of dental restoration What’s needed., and having it placed promptly, will help to ensure the long-term success of your tooth’s endodontic therapy.

If you have additional questions …

• Does it hurt?
• How long does it take?
• How many appointments are needed?
• Root canal treatment & pregnancy.
• Procedure aftercare.

Comments.

This section contains comments submitted in previous years. Many have been edited so to limit their scope to subjects discussed on this page.