Endodontic therapy or
root canal therapy is a sequence of treatment for the
infected pulp of a
tooth which results in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future
microbial invasion.
Root canals and their associated
pulp chamber are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by
nerve tissue,
blood vessels and other
cellular entities which together constitute the dental pulp. Endodontic therapy involves the
removal of these structures, the subsequent shaping, cleaning, and decontamination of the hollows with small files and irrigating solutions, and the
obturation (filling) of the decontaminated canals with an inert filling such as
gutta-percha and typically a
eugenol-based cement.
Epoxy resin is employed to bind gutta-percha in some root canal procedures.