About Your Teeth

The Anatomy of a Tooth

One Tooth.  Two Main Parts.

There are two main parts to your tooth. 

The crown.  This is the outer part that is above the gum line that you can see when you open your mouth.

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The root. This is the part underneath the gum and is surrounded by bone.  Inside each root is a channel, or canal, that runs the length of your tooth.  Inside this root is what is called Pulp.  The pulp inside the tooth contains blood vessels, nerves, and soft tissue.  The pulp can become damaged

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To save a tooth that has decay,  infection, or has suffered trauma, removing the diseased pulp tissue is required to prevent periodontal disease.  This is done by performing root canal therapy (learn more about this here).  Because root canal therapy only removes the pulp, the roots of the tooth remain intact inside the gums and will continue to function normally because the surrounding tissue is intact.