As owner of an independent dental practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Roderick Garcia, DMD, offers comprehensive dental care for patients of all ages. Roderick Garcia, DMD, draws on extensive experience performing root canals in a comfortable and compassionate environment.

1. Steps of a Root Canal
Roderick Garcia DMD

2. Introduction
 As owner of an independent dental practice in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, Roderick Garcia, DMD, offers comprehensive
dental care for patients of all ages. Roderick Garcia, DMD,
draws on extensive experience performing root canals in a
comfortable and compassionate environment.
When the innermost part of a tooth becomes infected,
inflamed, or injured, a root canal procedure can remove the
damaged nerve and save the tooth. It is an in-depth yet
routine procedure that, from the patient's perspective, requires
little more than stillness.
The process begins when the dentist numbs the tooth and
places over it a dental dam, a thin sheet of flexible material
with a hole through which the tooth can emerge. The dam
serves to isolate the tooth during the procedure, so that saliva
and its naturally occurring bacteria do not contaminate the
procedure site.

3. Root Canal
 The dentist then uses a standard drill to make an access
cavity in the tooth. Through this cavity, the dentist uses
specialized instrumentation to closely examine the root
canal and precisely measure its length, so that he or she
can ensure a complete cleaning of the cavity. The dentist
can then begin to clean out the canal using a series of
tapered files, which remove the infected tissue.
During the cleaning process, the dentist will routinely
irrigate the canal with a disinfectant solution. Only when
the root canal is completely clean and empty can the
dentist introduce a filling material into the tooth's root
canal. After the tooth's canal is filled, usually with gutta-
percha, the opening at the surface is filled like any other
cavity.

4. Conclusion
 If an active infection is present, however, the dentist
may choose not to seal the tooth immediately.
Instead, he or she will place medication in the tooth
and apply a temporary filling, so that the tooth
remains clean while the medication takes effect. The
patient then returns for a permanent filling.
In some cases, the patient will need to return to the
dentist's office again to receive a crown. This fits
over the tooth and provides structural support, as a
lack of blood supply and pulp material or other
damage can result is some teeth becoming fragile.