Root Canal Treatment
A modern root canal treatment is very similar to a routine filling and can usually be completed in one or two appointments, depending on the condition of your tooth and your personal circumstances. Getting a root canal is relatively painless and extremely effective. You’ll be back to smiling, biting and chewing with ease in no time.
Advantages
Saving the natural tooth with root canal treatment has many advantages:
When Do I Need a Root Canal?
Root canal therapy is needed when the tissues inside the tooth become unhealthy and infected. Often, you may need a root canal because there is a large cavity with bacteria contaminating the inside of the tooth, but other reasons include a crack in the tooth or an injury/trauma jolting the tooth enough to disrupt its blood supply.
If there is a crack, cavity, or anything that exposes the root canal space to bacteria, the nerves and blood vessels in the root canal become inflamed. Unlike the rest of your body, this blood supply is stuck in a very narrow root canal space. It is sandwiched between rock-hard root structures, so any disruption to this blood supply can be a big problem.
Root canals are needed for a cracked tooth from injury or genetics, a deep cavity, or issues from a previous filling. Patients generally need a root canal when they notice their teeth are sensitive, particularly to hot and cold sensations.
Symptoms
There are a few symptoms that mean you might need a root canal:
Initially, Advil or Tylenol usually provide relief by calming the nerves inside the tooth. But this is only temporary. Do not wait for the pain to go away on its own. If you do feel a sudden decrease in pain, it might only mean the infection killed the tooth’s nerves. In these cases, you may lose your tooth.
