A root canal is a common and very useful dental surgery procedure. When someone asks for a root canal on the other hand, most of us, including dentists, find it to be very absurd to say the least. In fact, root canal treatment has been around for many centuries, where earlier civilizations used this method to save teeth that would have been lost otherwise. These root canals were then offered kings, queens, royalty and the rich. The teeth from peasants were normally extracted then sold to aristocrats. Many years ago, doctors believed that worms were the reason for tooth decay. As time passed, doctors proved that the best way to stop the pain was to clean and remove the nerve and pulp of the tooth.

Root canals are a very common dental surgery procedure these days because as they help to save the tooth by removing the dead or dying pulp.  The pulp exists inside of the tooth, and can spread to abscess if it isn’t taken care of.  The tissue in the pulp is kept alive by the blood vessels that come from the tip of the root and travel along the root canal into the tooth. 

Decay is the main reason for pulp in the tooth dying. Once the decay has reached the pulp, it will keep eating away until the pulp has died.  Once it dies, the toxins from the decay will be released into the root tip and make it’s way into the jawbone.  If not taken care of properly, the jawbone can become infected, which can lead to death in rare cases.

To fix this problem, the dentist will need to perform a root canal treatment.  During the procedure, the dentist will numb the area then drill a hole into the tooth.  Using various tools and equipment, he will go down inside of the tooth and scrape away the nerves and dead pulp.  This is a very effective procedure, although very time consuming as well. In most cases, a root canal can take several hours, although it is the only way to stop the dying pulp and save the tooth.  Even though it may take a long time - it is more than worth it when it saves your tooth from being extracted.