Root Canal

Root canals, while often misunderstood, are vital procedures for preserving damaged teeth and relieving pain. Our skilled team is well-versed in performing root canal treatments with precision and care. When a tooth becomes infected or inflamed deep within the pulp, a root canal becomes necessary to remove the damaged tissue and restore the tooth’s health. Through this procedure, we can alleviate discomfort and save your natural tooth, preventing the need for extraction. Trust us to guide you through the root canal process with expertise and compassion, ensuring a comfortable experience and a restored smile.

Read more about root canals below.

A root canal is necessary when and untreated deep cavity infects the blood and nerve supply of a tooth.

As a result of this deep infection the tooth may become severely painful. Depending on the severity of infection root canals may require one to two visits not including any follow-up visits.

To treat the infected nerve the dentist must first gain access to the inside of the tooth removing all the decay. Then each tiny canal inside the root system must be identified and cleaned out of its infected tissues using small tapered instruments called files. Once the hand filing of the canals is completed the canals are further prepared using rotary instruments that open up the canals to a precise taper and length.

The canals are then each filled with an inert flexible plastic material called gutta percha that seals off the canals from any further bacterial invasion.

To add structural stability to the tooth the canal spaces may be further prepared to allow for the placement of reinforcing posts in the tooth. The posts are now placed in the prepared space; finally a dense filling material is injected into the tooth cavity.

The core filling is then packed and shaped to resemble the bite surface of the tooth and cured to hardness with a specialized blue light source.

To minimize the chances of breakage or fracture it is highly recommended that a crown be placed on the tooth, the crown is usually placed as soon as possible.

When tooth decay is left unchecked and untreated the bacteria in decay can advance through the protective layers of the tooth and lead to infection of the nerve and blood supply.

As the bacteria multiply inside the tooth they continue to do so right into the canals that run inside the roots.

When the infection spreads all the way past the ends of the roots of the tooth, the pus filled pocket called an abscess can form in the jawbone that surrounds the root. The acutely abscessed tooth leads to severe dental pain.

If extraction is chosen as the treatment option instead of a root canal, consideration should be given to replacing the missing tooth in order to avoid the potentially damaging movement of the surrounding teeth. These teeth become more challenging to clean as well, leading to more build-up of plaque and calculus and potential root decay.

If the extraction site were to be restored with a non-removable option like a dental implant the cost to have extracted and then replace the tooth would have made the root canal a more cost-effective option.