When Can your Dentist Recommend Root Canal Therapy?
Endodontic procedures do not receive enough credit for the incredible benefits they have in the preservation of natural teeth. Instead of losing your teeth due to a dental cavity or other forms of damage, a dentist can employ endodontic treatments to save your tooth. The most common endodontic procedure in dentistry is a root canal.
What Is a Root Canal?
It is a procedure in endodontic dentistry that targets a tooth’s internal infected layers first before treating it from the outside. Root canal therapy in Garrettsville, OH, will address pain and swelling caused by bacterial infection inside a tooth. Instead of extracting a damaged or diseased tooth, your dentist in Garrettsville, OH, will perform a root canal treatment.
Understanding the Process of Root Canal Therapy
A root canal procedure is more intricate than most dental works. The reason is that the dentist must target the internal layers while carefully preserving the entire framework of your tooth. Such a process requires sedation and numbing to protect you from potential pain and discomfort during dental work.
The dentist targets the inner layers by first drilling the tooth. The goal is to create a hole that becomes the access point to the insides of your tooth. After that, the dentist starts to clean out the tooth. The cleaning will remove any traces of bacteria in your tooth, along with the damaged tissues. Some of the tissues that the dentist will remove are nerve endings, blood vessels, and connective tissues that have succumbed to the infection. Removing these contents of the pulp will help rid your tooth of infection and inflammation that causes the toothache.
When the tooth is satisfactorily clean, the dentist will use a topical antibiotic on your tooth. The antibiotic should eliminate any bacteria left behind while preventing re-infection. The next step involves reshaping the tooth and filling it with a material called gutta-percha. It fills the canal of the tooth to prevent the structure from crumbling. Then, the dentist uses a dental filling of choice to close and seal the tooth, preventing re-entry of bacteria. At this, your procedure is complete. In some instances, however, the dentist Ravenna may determine to place a dental crown over the tooth. The purpose of the dental crown is to hold the tooth filling in place while reinforcing the strength of the entire tooth.
When Is Root Canal Treatment Necessary?
Root canal therapy near you is primarily for saving your natural teeth. Therefore, any dental issue that threatens the health of your teeth can necessitate a root canal procedure. At Garrettsville Dental Group, we recommend root canal therapy for the following reasons:
- Dental decay – when your tooth starts rotting, it affects the entire tooth so that even the layers inside are infected. A Root Canal can preserve the life of such a tooth as long as its structure is not severely compromised.
- Abscess teeth – dental abscesses form at the lower parts of teeth. You will identify an abscessed tooth by considering the tooth root, with a pocket filled with pus. Abscesses form due to progressed infection in the soft tissue of your mouth. Draining the abscess and treating the infection is part of the endodontic procedures in dentistry.
- Broken tooth – although a root canal does not repair the structure of your tooth, it can help treat the pain you experience after breaking your tooth. Dental trauma can sometimes damage more than just the tooth structure, leading to a persisting toothache.
- Hypersensitivity – a heightened sensitivity to hot or cold foods can make your life pretty uncomfortable. Such sensitivity is an indicator that the nerve endings of your tooth may be compromised. One way to treat hypersensitivity is a root canal procedure.
What Happens After a Root Canal?
When your treatment is complete, your mouth will continue to feel numb for a couple of hours. As the day goes by, the numbing should wear off on its own. At this, you may eat without fear of hurting your mouth. However, the success of your treatment will largely depend on how well you care for your teeth after your procedure.
Your teeth will feel sensitive for the first few weeks after the procedure due to the dental work. However, it should not be anything too serious that it causes difficulty to eat. If anything, it should get better as you heal.