The Anatomy Of Your Tooth
Understanding the anatomy of your tooth can help you understand why certain dental treatments, such as a root canal are recommended. Because your teeth cannot heal themselves, and because once you lose even a single tooth it can lead to other more serious dental problems, dentists will choose the most non-invasive treatment possible to treat tooth decay or other dental issues. This is in an effort to save the tooth, yet keep as much healthy tooth structure as possible in the process. This way, if you require treatment on the same tooth later on, you may still be able to save the tooth yet again, given you have more options for treatment.
What Your Teeth Are Made Of
Your teeth consist of a crown (the white upper part of the tooth that we can see) and the root (which sets in your jaw for stability). There is a part of your tooth that is alive and that part is called the pulp, also referred to as the root. The pulp of your tooth consists of living tissue, blood vessels, and nerves. When the pulp becomes infected it is painful due to the sensitivity of the living tissue and nerves.
The pulp of your tooth is encased in something called dentin. Dentin is what gives your teeth their white color. It looks a lot like bone and is made up of thousands of microscopic tubules.
The dentin is coated with a hard, clear substance called enamel, which protects the dentin and pulp from the harmful effects of bacteria, acids, and plaque. It also protects your inner tooth from extreme food temperatures. Enamel is the hardest material in the human body.
Decay
If tooth decay moves through the enamel, it will then progress through the dentin and into the pulp of your tooth. Your tooth can survive without the living pulp tissue. A root canal removes the infected tissue in order to save the rest of the tooth. Another piece of information you should be aware of is that the root of your tooth is not protected by enamel, so if your gums begin to recede, your root is vulnerable to decay.