Root Canals
What is a root canal?
A root canal is part of the tooth’s anatomical structure, so every tooth has a root canal. Root canal therapy is a procedure designed to help save a damaged tooth by removing infected pulp from the tooth’s root canal, preventing the need for extraction. Teeth that have been severely damaged, or have a severe infection, may need root canal therapy. Advanced tooth decay often warrants this procedure, as well as an accidental fracture of the tooth. Fortunately, root canal therapy is often quite successful at saving teeth. This is extremely important, as missing teeth can lead to a myriad of problems later on in life, such as pain when biting and chewing, shifting of your teeth, further tooth loss, and even loss of bone and gum tissue.
What to expect
Many people are understandably anxious about having root canal therapy done. Before we begin, we will carefully numb the site of the procedure to keep you as comfortable and pain-free as possible. If you have any discomfort or questions during the procedure, please let us know right away.
The root canal therapy will begin with X-rays. This will allow us to determine the depth of the infection and how severe the damage is to the tooth and the bone. After we numb the site, we may place a dental dam (a thin sheet of rubber latex) over the tooth to help protect the surrounding area from bacteria as well as keep it clean and dry.
We will then carefully drill into the infected tooth to reach the infection. Once we have access to the root canal, we will thoroughly remove the pulp and all traces of the infection. We will then file the area down to help prepare it for a filling and wash it with an antibacterial solution to kill any remaining infection.
Next, we fill the root canal with a special type of putty called gutta-percha and place a protective filling or a crown.