Most people would probably refer to a tooth's pulp tissue as its "nerve".
While a tooth's pulp tissue does contain nerve fibers it is also
composed of veins, arteries, lymph vessels, and connective tissue.
While teeth are hard calcified objects they are not completely solid. In the inner most aspect of
every tooth there is a hollow space which, when the tooth is healthy, contains the tooth's nerve
tissue.
Dentists use the following terms to refer to various portions of this nerve area:
The tooth's pulp chamber.
This is a hollow cavern which lies more or less in the
center of a tooth.
The tooth's root canals.
Each tooth's nerve enters the tooth pretty much at the tip
of its root(s). There are small canals which run from this
entrance point through the length of the root to the tooth's
pulp chamber.
You might think that a tooth's nerve tissue is vitally important to a tooth's health and function,
but in reality it's not. A tooth's nerve tissue plays an important role in the development and
growth of a tooth, but once the tooth has erupted through the gums and has finished maturing
its only function is sensory.
In regards to the normal day to day functioning of our mouths, the
sensory information provided by a single tooth is really quite minimal.
Dentists realize that on a practical level it is pretty much academic
whether a tooth has a live nerve in it or not. If a tooth's nerve tissue is
present and healthy, wonderful. But if a tooth has had its nerve tissue
removed during root canal treatment, that's fine too. Your dentist knows,
on a practical level, you will never notice the difference.
What is the purpose of root canal
treatment?
The long term goal of root canal treatment is to
create an end result where it is unlikely that a
bacterial infection will become associated with a
tooth whose nerve is no longer healthy.
Related to this long term goal, root canal treatment
is also used as a means to clear up tooth infections
(tooth abscesses) and also as a way to treat
unhealthy tooth nerves which are causing a person
pain.
What does root canal treatment
accomplish?
As a process, root canal treatment first involves
cleaning out the inside of a tooth (the area originally
occupied by the tooth's nerve tissue). Once this
space has been cleaned it is filled in and sealed up.
For more information, please see
|
