Pulp canal obliteration, or PCO, usually stems from sharp trauma to the tooth that causes instant death to the pulp material inside the tooth's central root canal. Pulp contains tissue and nerve cells that come through the tooth roots and up into the root canal. The pulp material is essential for keeping the tooth healthy and alive. PCO doesn't always mean the tooth is doomed, but the level of damage and how quickly you make a dentist appointment can determine the viability of the tooth.

What are the dental treatment options for pulp canal obliteration?

Root Canal Procedure

A root canal procedure is the best chance of saving the tooth but can also prove tricky due to the type of damage associated with pulp canal obliteration. Your dentist will need to conduct X-rays and other examinations to determine if the tooth is a good candidate for a root canal procedure. If your root canal still has enough of its shape to undergo therapy, your dentist will likely recommend the root canal procedure.

Your dentist will drill into the tooth and carefully use handheld tools to clean out the obliterated pulp tissue without causing any further damage to the root canal's structure. An expanding filler material is then packed into the canal to both prevent new pulp from entering and to offer the canal walls some strong interior support.

The opened tooth will be sealed shut with a dental crown, which can also cover any cosmetic chips or cracks that might have happened during the initial trauma. A crown is a porcelain artificial tooth casing that slips down over the exterior of your natural tooth and bonds to the surface with an artificial cement.

Extraction and Dental Implant

Has the traumatized tooth suffered a root canal collapse alongside the pulp obliteration? Your dentist likely can't perform a root canal procedure to save the tooth and an extraction will need to take place. Discuss dental replacement options before the extraction so that you understand what the next treatment steps will involve.

Consider investing in a dental implant as your dental replacement as the jawbone-secured root offers many of the same benefits of a natural tooth. The benefits include stimulating bone health in the jaw and promoting proper blood flow through the soft tissues. This assistance can prove especially helpful if the trauma that caused the PCO also caused some minor bone and tissue damage in the underlying area.

For more information, visit Pinon Hills Dental.