When a dentist performs a root canal on a tooth, he sterilizes the infected tooth and removes approximately an inch of infected nerve from the area, but he cannot remove the tubules in the tooth that retain dead nerve tissue, which is possibly infected with bacteria, explains Corinne Vizcarra, D.D.S. The bacteria, and resulting toxins, left behind in the tubules can escape the tooth and infect the rest of the body, including the jaw.
