What is RCT (root canal treatment)?

What the letters mean

RCT is simply the abbreviation for root canal treatment. In a dental context that is all it stands for. (Outside dentistry the same three letters usually mean "randomised controlled trial", which is why searching the acronym alone returns such a mixed bag.)

What is actually wrong

Inside every tooth, beneath the enamel and dentine, is a soft core called the pulp — nerves and blood vessels. When decay, a crack or an injury lets bacteria reach it, the pulp becomes inflamed or infected. That is the toothache people describe as deep, throbbing and worse at night, and it does not resolve on its own, because the infection is sealed inside a hard tooth where the body cannot easily clear it.

At that point there are two options: remove the pulp and keep the tooth, or remove the tooth. Root canal treatment is the first one.

What happens during the procedure

1. Local anaesthesia, so the tooth and the area around it are numb.
2. Access — a small opening is made through the top of the tooth.
3. Cleaning — the infected pulp is removed and the narrow canals inside the roots are cleaned and shaped.
4. Disinfection of the canal system.
5. Sealing — the canals are filled so bacteria cannot re-enter.
6. Restoration — a filling, and usually a crown, to rebuild the tooth and protect it.

A straightforward single-visit case runs about 60 to 90 minutes. Teeth with complex or curved canals may need more than one visit.

Does it hurt?

This is the fear that keeps people in pain for months, so it deserves a direct answer: the procedure is done under local anaesthesia, and for most people the toothache that brought them in was considerably worse than the treatment. Some tenderness for a few days afterwards is normal.

Why the crown matters

A treated tooth has had its inner core removed, which makes it more brittle than a healthy one. The crown is not an upsell — it is what stops the tooth fracturing later, and a fractured root-treated tooth usually cannot be saved a second time. See crowns and bridges.

What it costs

Root canal treatment starts at ₹2,999 per tooth at The Aesthetic Edge, the same at Indiranagar and Bellandur. The crown is a separate restoration and is quoted with it. A consultation is ₹500, waived against treatment.

Root canal or extraction?

Keeping your own tooth is almost always the better long-term outcome — an extraction leaves a gap that shifts the neighbouring teeth and eventually needs an implant or a bridge, which costs more than the root canal would have. There are teeth too damaged to save, and a dentist will tell you honestly when that is the case.

Full detail on the root canal treatment page.