Vocabulary Expansion: What Are Endodontics?

By: Sam Mosca, Dream Smile Dental

Whenever we go to the dentist, we are likely to encounter advanced medical language beyond our comprehension. Where we would like to receive simple guidance and advice, we are often met with Greek and Latin terms of procedures.

This can make the whole experience a little overwhelming for new patients, or patients facing a steep treatment plan. Luckily, the doctors at Dream Smile Dental will always take the time to address your questions in plain English, making sure the information ends up in your head, not over it.

For those of us who are not so fortunate to have such great dentists, our future blogs will follow a theme of demystifying the complex words and phrases that make dental knowledge seemingly inaccessible to the common patient. Let’s begin with the word endodontics. First off, an endodontist is a dentist who specializes in the treatment of the insides of teeth, typically performing root canals

Continuing with our education, we should examine the origin of our new word. The two roots both come from Greek. Endo means “inside” and Odont means “tooth”. Inside the tooth is “pulp”, which is soft tissue and nerves. When teeth are broken or damaged, this soft tissue often becomes damaged or infected, and can be treated with a root canal. This procedure removes the infected or damaged pulp from inside your tooth, saving you future tooth loss and pain.

Now, the next time you go in for a root canal, ask your dentist, “do you specialize in endodontics?”. If they don’t, give us a call at Dream Smile Dental and schedule an appointment with a dentist who does. We recently added Dr. Paul Kaplan to our team, a true endodontist. We will follow up with a full story on him soon. Meanwhile, you can learn more about root canals here.

Dream Smile Dental proudly serves patients in the Canton, Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, and Dedham area. If you have any questions or dental concerns, please do not hesitate to call our office at 781 330 0900, or visit us at 2184 Washington St., Canton.