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Pain-Free Root Canal Therapy: Save Your Tooth
At Panther Creek Dental, we understand that root canal therapy can invoke fear and anxiety. Despite its reputation, the routine, relatively comfortable endodontic procedure is not a frightening and painful dental treatment. In fact, it alleviates severe pain rather than causing it and saves teeth with severe damage, restoring their health and function! With our state-of-the-art technology, modern endodontic techniques, and gentle care, you can expect a top-notch, positive experience.
What Is Root Canal Therapy?
You have a natural cavity in the center of each tooth called the pulp chamber. That space houses connective tissues, nerves, and blood vessels. Root canal therapy is an endodontic treatment needed when the tooth pulp becomes inflamed or infected due to trauma, deep decay, or extensive cavities.
It would be best to consider endodontic therapy as an urgent treatment since, left untreated, the infection may cause an abscess leading to complications, including damage to the surrounding teeth or bone loss around the roots of the diseased tooth. Worse yet, the infection can enter the bloodstream, causing health problems.
Modern technology and anesthetic advances have made root canal therapy much more comfortable. Most of our patients report little or no pain during the procedure.
What Are Symptoms of Tooth Pulp Damage?
Symptoms of problems requiring root canal therapy include severe tooth pain, sensitivity to hot and cold, tooth discoloration, sensitive gums, or signs of infection, including swelling or a bump on the gums. In some cases, tooth pulp damage does not show symptoms, so keeping up with your routine dental exams and cleanings will ensure we identify and treat any dental problems before they progress.
How Is Root Canal Therapy Performed?
In the past, root canals were considered complex and required multiple, lengthy appointments. With today's groundbreaking endodontic technology and techniques, treatments typically require a single visit to complete.
Your root canal treatment involves numbing the area using local anesthesia, then making a small opening in the tooth's crown to access and remove the infected pulp tissue. Next, we'll clean and reshape the pulp chamber and root canals, then fill them with a biocompatible, rubber-like material known as gutta-percha. We will seal the space to prevent any further damage or reinfection.
After a root canal, a treated tooth can fracture, so we usually recommend a dental crown to protect it. A root canal-treated tooth has the potential of lasting a lifetime!
