Permanent (adult) teeth, usually in older children and teenagers. Baby teeth are treated with a pulpectomy instead.
Root canal treatment
Saving a permanent tooth whose nerve has been damaged by deep decay or injury, instead of removing it.
“Deep inside your tooth there is a tiny room that got poorly. We clean the room out, tidy it up and close the door, so the tooth can stay and keep working.”
How we explain it
What happens
Step by step
- 1The tooth is numbed fully and isolated with a small rubber sheet so it stays dry and your child cannot taste anything.
- 2The damaged nerve tissue is removed from the root canals, which are then cleaned, shaped and disinfected.
- 3The canals are sealed, and the tooth is rebuilt, usually with a crown, because a root-treated tooth is more brittle than a healthy one.
- 4It may take more than one visit, depending on the tooth and how much infection there was.
What your child will feel
Numb throughout. The rubber sheet feels odd for the first minute and is then forgotten. Some tenderness on biting for a few days afterwards is normal.
Parents ask