Root canal treatment or endodontic treatment is a treatment for the last 10-15 mm of the root of a tooth. If you have advanced gum disease, live with diabetes or take certain medications that can cause severe gum problems and infection, your dentist will be able to help you over at https://betterdental.com/chapel-hill
Your dentist will use anaesthesia to numb your mouth and the tooth before he can get to work. The infected pulp is removed with special instruments and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and filled with disinfected material.
One or more crowns or fillings may be placed to protect the tooth from damage or decay. If your tooth is badly damaged by decay, a crown or filling may need to be added to the tooth to restore it.
A follow-up visit will be necessary after your root canal treatment and the dentist will check that there is no infection. With proper care and contact with your dental practice, many root canal teeth can last for a lifetime.
Root canal benefits
If you have an infected tooth, your dentist might recommend root canal treatment. This involves the removal of the pulp, dentin, and/or nerve at the base of a decayed tooth. A root canal can also refer to the entire canal system that includes two or more teeth.
With root canals, most dental problems are fixed and you will not need further treatments. It is an affordable option, too.
Dental pulp contains nerves, blood vessels, connective tissues and lymphatic tissues that allow your teeth to serve their functions. When a tooth is damaged or decayed due to cavities, cracks or trauma, it can lead to infections in the teeth and surrounding gums.
Root canal treatment begins with a local anesthesia to numb the nerve, which prevents pain during the procedure.
Once down in the roots of your infected tooth, your dentist will clean out all decayed material. The root canal is then disinfected and filled with a sealant or filling material. Sometimes, the pulp may be removed and replaced with an artificial substitute that includes calcium hydroxide and antibiotics to prevent further infection.
Root canals are not as effective with long-standing problems, but they will allow your tooth to heal so that it can be restored when needed.
Who is root canal for
At the heart of every tooth is a pulp cavity which houses nerves and blood vessels. If bacteria from food gets inside the tooth, these microbes will produce toxins that cause pain, fever and swelling in the area around the nerves. A root canal is an operation that removes the infected tissue from around a tooth and replaces it with filling material.
Root canals are commonly used to fix teeth that have suffered damage as a result of tooth decay or an injury. Less commonly, root canals are also used as a treatment for chronic gum disease, where the root canal is damaged by inflammation.
Summary
A root canal may seem like an archaic and painful treatment option, but it’s actually not bad at all. Many of us are surprised to learn that we can go through life with a healthy and functioning top row of teeth while our bottom one is essentially the equivalent of toothless.