Root canal treatment is an often-straightforward procedure to relieve dental pain and save your teeth. Patients typically need a root canal when there is inflammation or infection in the roots of a tooth. During root canal treatment, an endodontist who specializes in such treatment carefully removes the pulp inside the tooth, cleans, disinfects and shapes the root canals, and places a filling to seal the space.
As a starting point for performing your tooth’s treatment, your dentist will need to gain access to its nerve space. This step is called creating an “access cavity.”
- Your dentist will use their dental drill to make a hole that extends through the surface of your tooth to its pulp chamber.
- This is the opening through which they will perform their work.
- With back teeth, the access cavity is made right through the tooth’s chewing surface (as shown in our picture).
- With front ones, it’s made on their backside.
- When creating the access cavity, the dentist will also remove all tooth decay, and any loose or fragile portions of the tooth or its filling.
