In olden times, a badly decayed teeth had to be pulled out as there was no second option. After the introduction of root canal treatment in dentistry, millions of teeth could be saved every day worldwide. Read more to know all you ought to know about root canal treatment.
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What is Root Canal Treatment?
Root canal treatment is a specialized filling technique in which the spaces within the roots of a tooth are filled first before filling the crown portion of the tooth. Endodontic therapy is the dental term used to describe root canal treatment. For the better understanding of the therapy one must understand the anatomy of a normal human tooth.
There are two parts of a tooth:
- Crown (the part of the tooth that can be seen inside the mouth and is above the gumline)
- Root (the part of the tooth that anchors the tooth within the jaw and cannot be seen as such as it is within the jawbone)
The crown has a pulp chamber inside that houses the pulp of a tooth. Pulp is what makes the tooth vital as it is a network of blood vessels and nerve fibres. The roots of the teeth have canals running through them that start from below the pulp chamber and end at the apex (the last part of the root).
Do I Need a Root Canal?
When the pulp portion of the tooth has been completely destroyed due to various reasons, the tooth becomes dead and can be saved only through root canal treatment. Here are few instances when one may need root canal treatment-
- A darkened tooth
- A broken tooth the fracture of which is deep enough to expose the pulp
- A tooth that has suffered any injury due to an accident
- Deep cavity that causes toothache while chewing food
- A tooth with an abscess
During all these situations, the pulp within the tooth is exposed to the bacteria present in our mouth. Due to the exposure, the pulp gets infected and leads to symptoms like throbbing pain or abscess.
How is the Root Canal Treatment done?
Visit us at our dental office at Waldorf to know if your gums are in need of scaling and root planing.
Since, the infected pulp is the reason for the pain and swelling, your dentist focuses on scooping it out from the tooth and filling another special material thereby saving the tooth from being pulled out and you from the pain. Hence the steps involved in root canal treatment are-
- Removal of the infected pulp: The infected pulp is taken out as a whole and the procedure is performed meticulously so that no remnants of the infected pulp remain within the roots of the teeth.
- Cleaning and shaping: After removal of the pulp the root canals are cleaned thoroughly with tiny tools called files. Another intention of cleaning is widening of root canals so that the space created is sufficient enough to accommodate the filling material.
- Filling: Once your dentist ensures that the root canals are clean and dry he starts off with the process of filling the canals. The filling is done tightly so that there is no scope of infection in future.
Once the root canal filling is over the crown portion, it is filled with a temporary filling. During the subsequent visits, the filling is made permanent and the crown part of the tooth is shaped to receive an artificial crown like a ceramic crown.
Benefits of Root Canal Treatment
- Root canal treatment saves your tooth. What can be a bigger benefit than this!
- You can chew normally as there will be no more pain while chewing food.
- The bone loss caused by tooth extraction is prevented.
- You feel good due to the comfort of having your natural tooth intact.
- You look good as the appearance is natural.
- The remaining teeth in your mouth are less prone to decay or infection as one major source of infection has been dealt with thoroughly through root canal treatment.
Hence, if you have been informed to go for root canal treatment, do not hesitate even for a second and contact our team at Dental Care of Waldorf. Your tooth savior is just a call away!
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