What is a Root Canal Treatment?
A Root Canal is a treatment in which the damaged area of a tooth is extracted to clean to be cleaned, filled and sealed. This procedure is used to save and repair damaged teeth without having to extract them.
The name of this procedure is due to the cleaning performed to the canals located inside the tooth’s root. During this procedure, a damaged tooth is disinfected by a dentist that cleans the inside of a tooth removing the bacteria and dead tissue that remains in there. The performed of this treatment avoids infections to a damaged tooth as well as the formation of abscesses in the surrounding tissue of the tooth.
The damages that a tooth can have and which can be fixed with a root canal treatment, are the ones who especially affect the pulp of the tooth. Cracked tooth, traumas and cavities are some of the issues that a root canal treatment can solve without having to lose a tooth.
Is This Treatment Painful?
Formerly, these kind of treatments were very painful, but nowadays and thanks to numerous advances, some people may even don’t experiment any pain during this procedure.
What can be very painful in fact, are the symptoms of the damaged teeth. The root canal treatment purpose is to save the damaged teeth and to relieve the pain that they can cause to a person.
Why is it important to save damaged teeth and avoid the extraction?
The best part of the root canal treatment is that it allows to save and improve a tooth that was damaged, without having to extract it. Most professionals share that it is preferable to keep the natural teeth than to remove them. The extraction of teeth is a permanent decision that causes more impact to the oral health.
Root Canal Treatment Process
This treatment can be performed by a dentist or an endodontist. Before starting the procedure, the specialist will first use X-ray to look where the cavity that’s causing the infection is located. Once the cavity or infection is located, the dentist or endodontist will proceed to apply local anesthesia to numb the area that is surrounding the tooth.
It is important to keep the treated area free from saliva during the process, for that, the specialist will place a rubber dam surrounding the tooth.
To continue with the treatment an access hole will be drilled into the tooth to remove from it the pulp along with bacteria and the decayed nerve tissue. Then, the root canals are cleaned using root canal files that are placed into the access hole to scrape the sides of the canals and water or sodium hypochlorite is applied to flush away the debris. To finish the treatment, once the tooth is well cleaned it is sealed.
After Treatment Care
After the procedure, it is normal if you feel some tenderness for some days in the cleaned area or in your jaw. To relieve this symptom you can use over-the-counter pain medications, but if you experiment severe pain for a few days you should contact your dentist or endodontist.
