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Root canal treatment is made necessary when a cavity is allowed to reach all the way to this pulp. Trauma to a tooth may cause the nerve to be damaged to the point it needs root canal therapy. Once this occurs the pulp becomes infected, and can even extend through the root tip and begin to eat away at the surrounding bone (or abscess). By the time the pulp is infected it must be treated, and cannot heal on its own. It can weaken the entire immune system. Symptoms that the pulp has become infected may include sensitivity to hot/cold or sweets, pain, swelling, pain to biting or pressure, and a bad taste in the mouth.