Root Canal Treatment
Dental pain can take many forms and can seriously impact upon your quality of life.
Symptoms can include
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sensitivity to hot or cold foods
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sharp pain when biting down on food
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dull aching pressure in the jaw
If you are feeling discomfort or pain, this may be a sign that you require Root Canal Treatment.
Root canal treatment (Endodontic treatment) becomes necessary and is a means of saving the tooth when the soft pulp inside the root canal becomes inflamed or infected, due to deep decay, cracks or fractures in the tooth. Symptoms of inflammation may include tenderness and pain, with sensitivity to hot and cold or pain on biting.
The purpose of root canal treatment is to restore the tooth and surrounding tissues to health, relieving both pain and infection. Without Root Canal treatment the only other alternative is to have the infected tooth extracted, and so replace it with either an implant, a fixed bridge or a removable denture. None of these alternatives is anywhere near as effective as being able to actually keep the original tooth.
Root Canal Treatment is an extremely cost-effective way to treat teeth with damaged pulp. Indeed it is usually less expensive than extraction and placement of a bridge or an implant. It is important to replace the missing tooth to restore chewing function and to prevent adjacent teeth from moving about and having further damage from uneven load on the surrounding teeth.
Endodontic treatment has a success rate of approx 80% with many root canal treated teeth lasting a full lifetime after the procedure. If the damage is more prolonged or severe, the pulp can break down and bacteria can grow, causing infection and abscesses (pus forming in the bone) making treatment more difficult. Symptoms may involve pain and swelling in the nearby bone and gums.
Root canal treatment aims to remove all infection and debris from the infected tooth. It is a skilled and time consuming procedure that can require two or more visits.
Root canal treatment consists of the following stages:
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First the area is carefully numbed so you don’t feel any pain at all. A small protective sheet called a ‘dental dam’ is placed over the teeth to keep the area clean and dry. We will then create a small opening in the crown of your tooth to allow us to clean out the infected pulp from inside your tooth. Removing the remains of the infected pulp and, if an abscess is present, allowing it to drain.
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After Cleaning and shaping of the root canals, it will be ready for filling. A working length X-ray is taken to check the length of the canals.
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After the space is cleaned and shaped, the root canals are filled with a rubber-like material called ‘gutta-percha’ to ensure the root canals are completely sealed. A post operative X-ray is taken and the Root Canal treatment is now complete.
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You must then have a permanent post core filling to further protect and seal the tooth from harmful bacteria and provide a strong structure for a premanent crown. This is important so as to restore the tooth as it becomes more brittle after the Root Canal so at a higher risk of fracture and possible loss of the tooth without a crown. Having a post core and a crown is at a separate cost.
If you are nervous, or anxious in any way, please do feel free to speak to us about your concerns. We have a great deal of experience dealing with anxious patients.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms then contact us immediately.
