the.com/endodontics
The dental art of removing feeling from a tooth so the feeling stops.
means The branch of dentistry dealing with the tooth's inner pulp and nerve, especially root canal treatment of infected or damaged teeth.
from Built from Greek parts: 'endo-' meaning within, and 'odous/odont-' meaning tooth — so literally 'inside-the-tooth' medicine. The same 'odont' root shows up in words like orthodontics (straightening teeth) and mastodon (whose name comes from its tooth shape, not its mouth). 'Endo-' is the same prefix found in endoscope and endocrine, always pointing inward.
- literal meaning
- Greek for inside the tooth
- public nickname
- root canal, the internet's favorite dread
- pain myth
- modern anesthesia makes it feel like a filling
- what it saves
- the natural tooth, instead of pulling it