Root canals might not be the first thing you want to hear a dentist say after your exam, but it is important to understand how important they are to saving your teeth. Before root canal treatments, if dental decay and infection got to the root of a tooth, the only option was to pull it. Thankfully, root canal treatments can help save teeth by removing the infection and filling the root.
If you experience severe toothaches, sensitivity to hot/cold food, localized pain, or pain when you chew or bite down, it might be a sign that you have decay in your tooth’s roots. Give us a call to discuss dental exams and treatments in Belmont, MA.
Root canal treatments are a form of endodontics. Endodontics quite literally just means “inside tooth”. Usually, decay begins on the outside of a tooth and works its way in over time. First, the enamel is destroyed, and then the decay impacts the dentin, creating a divot or a hole known as a cavity. Those issues are solved with dental fillings and, in some cases, dental crowns, depending on the size and severity of the decay.
When decay and infection get into the roots of the tooth, a root canal is necessary. Our exceptional prosthodontist, Dr. Emma Wu, has helped countless patients with root canals and other treatments. There is often this myth that root canals are painful. In fact, the opposite is often true. Root canals usually relieve a lot of pain that patients have when their roots are infected.
Root canals are not done unless a dentist is aware that you need one. During a regular checkup, your dentist will take X-rays, which might show signs that you need a root canal. Alternatively, if you show up with root infection symptoms like severe toothaches, our dentist will perform a quick exam to diagnose what’s wrong.
Like with a dental filling, you will get numbed with anesthesia that is injected locally at the root canal site. Our dentist will then place a dental dam or a thin piece of rubber around the infected tooth so that it stays dry throughout the procedure.
A small hole is drilled into a tooth so that our dentist can access the root. The infected tooth pulp is removed, and the root is cleaned and disinfected. The empty root is then filled with a rubbery dental material, which is similar to dental pulp. The tooth is then sealed.
A dental crown is often placed to restore a patient’s bite and cover the area that was drilled. At some dental offices, you might need to wait two or three weeks after your root canal to get this dental crown. This is because many dental offices rely on local dental labs to make the custom crowns that are designed to fit your teeth.
But at modern offices like ours, a dental crown can actually be made in the office with computer assisted design and manufacturing technology. Instead of waiting weeks and scheduling a follow-up, the new crown can be made in a few hour,s and everything can be done in a day.
Root canal treatments save teeth! If you avoid getting a root canal, you may lose the tooth. The same infection that is impacting your root can also cause jawbone deterioration, which will cause the tooth to loosen and fall out. Moreover, infection can spread and cause issues with your gum health and the surrounding teeth. The faster a problem can be noticed and addressed, the better for your oral health. For everything from your regular checkups to dental implants, please give our office a call.
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