Root canal treatments are necessary when you have an infection inside the center part of a tooth (often referred to as the dental pulp or pulp tissue). This typically happens if a tooth has a deep cavity (or even a hairline crack) that has allowed bacteria to enter the tooth and cause an infection.Most often the first sign of an issue is inflammation and pain. If left untreated, this pain will only increase, and an abscess may form within the infected tissue, which could cause injury to your jaw bone.
If you’re experiencing consistent pain in a tooth, or notice inflammation along your gumline or a visible sore, give us a call and schedule an appointment immediately! We will examine you and take an x-ray, which will help us determine the extent of the damage. As with most dental issues, the sooner we catch the problem, the more options you have!
The process of a root canal treatment
The actual treatment process is relatively straight-forward. Basically, all we are doing is removing the infected dental pulp, cleaning and decontaminating the interior of your tooth, and filling it with a stable dental compound. Depending on the damage to your tooth, we may need to place a dental crown.
Remember, the goal of the procedure is to save your tooth! In the past, with an infection inside the tooth, many dentists would simply remove the tooth. That was the easiest way to treat the infection. But thanks to the advances in precision dentistry tools, in most circumstances we can save your tooth!
After we’re done, you won’t even be able to tell that you had a root canal!
A pain-free root canal treatment is possible!
For every root canal, we use local anesthesia, which will ensure that you don’t feel any pain. In addition, we can offer our patients several options for reducing anxiety, to keep you comfortable during the procedure. Just give us a call and let us know you struggle with anxiety when scheduling your appointment.
We don’t want to brag, but we do so many root canal treatments that we’ve gotten pretty good at ensuring patient comfort!
What our patients say
