Hi Chris,

The dentin tubules are located beyond the dentin throughout the entire tooth... including the root structure. People often think that once the top portion of the tooth above the gumline (referred to as the crown of the tooth) is shaved down that there is no tooth structure remaining. The fact is that the roots of the tooth are still present and they have the same anatomical components as the crown portion of the tooth.

I am posting a link of a very detailed diagram of a tooth. The black curvy lines throughout the tooth represent the dentin tubules. So you can see how there would be no access to these canals..... imagine these tiny canals harboring necrotic nerve tissue. That's a lot of bacteria! The "passageway for nerves and blood vessels" called the root canal (labeled on the right of the diagram) are the only areas that are instrumented during the rc procedure. At the end of each root, you will see how the blood vessel connects from inside of the tooth through a hole directly into the blood vessel in the jawbone. During a root canal procedure, these vessels are severed and the hole at the end of the root is plugged up. Therefore the tooth is no longer nourished by the blood. So imagine what happens to the nerve tissue inside of the dentin tubules when there is no longer and nourishment. The periodontal ligament outlines the entire root structure of the tooth and it requires blood to remain vital. Once the blood supply is cut off, this ligament will no longer be vital and it too becomes necrotic tissue. This sets off a chain reaction of inflammation causing an ischemic response in the bone.

After you review this diagram you can see..... it is irrelevant of what is done to the infected tooth.... there is no procedure or medicament to "save" this tooth from being chronically infected.

Here's the link...
http://www.mouthhealthy.org/az-topics/t/tooth.aspx

Please give us your feedback.
Bryanna