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Trivia: Root Canal Edition

Posted on Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 at 8:03 am

It is no secret that root canal therapy saves your natural teeth! By extracting the infected pulp inside the tooth, endodontists can rescue your teeth. What exactly is dental pulp though? It is a lot more important than you might think, so keep reading for some pulp trivia!

Fact #1
Pulp is the living part of the tooth. It is made of nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue that feed the tooth vital nutrients for it to stay alive and healthy.

Fact #2
Dental pulp is your tooth’s alarm system. When something is going wrong with your teeth, such as trauma or decay, the pulp experiences pressure and sensitivity changes that you perceive as pain.

Fact #3
The pulp is responsible for dentin formation. Dentin is the tissue layer beneath the enamel that protects the pulp. Due to the translucency of enamel, dentin is visible through it and gives the tooth its color. Pulp contains cells called odontoblasts that initiate dentin creation.

Fact #4
The tooth can survive without pulp, but not infected pulp. Pulp is a crucial part of tooth development, but once a tooth has fully matured, it can get nutrients from surrounding tissue and the pulp is no longer necessary. However, infected tissue will cause major damage. It is the decaying pulp that makes root canal therapy necessary to save teeth that suffer pulp trauma.

Fact#5
Blood vessels and nerves in pulp are connected to gum tissue in the jaw. The apical foramen is a hole at the apex, or tip, of the tooth’s root. Blood vessels and nerves run from the jaw through the apical foramen and become part of the pulp once they enter the tooth.

Fact #6
Diseased gum tissue can cause pulp to become infected as well. Blood vessels and nerves connect the gum to the pulp. Therefore, the diseased gum tissue can enter the pulp and begin to infect it. Conversely, infected pulp can also spread and cause potential gum disease. This connection is very important to be aware of, because if one goes wrong, the other should get checked as well.

With all the functions of dental pulp in mind, it’s no wonder root canal therapy is such an important procedure! Call us today to schedule a consultation if you’re having tooth pain and considering root canal therapy.

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