Endodontics is the branch of dentistry that has as its objective of study the tissues located inside of the tooth (dental pulp or nerve) and the treatment of the diseases related to them.
Endodontic treatment is commonly associated, although inappropriately, with the term “tooth killing“. It is a dental surgery that has as its main purpose the protection of the tooth and it tries to avoid as much as possible turning to extraction and implantology.
Performing correct endodontic treatment, using cutting-edge materials and toolkits (an operating microscope, tools made of special alloys, innovative biomaterials, etc.), is of paramount importance for the teeth to continue to carry out the normal masticatory function without presenting in the future any complications such as acute abscesses or granulomas.
Endodontic therapy can be tackled in an orthograde manner, i.e. by accessing the canal system through a cavity in the tooth, or in a surgical manner.
In latter case, the canal system is reached and the inflamed tissues are removed by incising the gingiva and the oral mucosa.
Fig. 1: Endodontic treatment of a tooth with irreversible pulp impairment. To be observed is the complete recovery of apical granulomas (index of bacterial infection) following treatment (see arrows). If empty spaces remain in the root system these can be colonized by bacteria and give rise to abscesses or granulomas.
Fig 2: The images show a significant bone rarefaction following unsuitable endodontic treatment. The remaking of the same completely solved the pathology. Also, for this discipline the use of the dam and the magnification systems, in order to visualize the reduced operative field as well as possible, cannot be ignored.
Fig 3: Microscopic images of pulp chambers of dental elements.
