Root Canal Treatment From Our Scottsdale Dentist
The structure of the tooth has an enamel layer, dentin, and pulp. The pulp is at the heart of the tooth carrying nerves, connecting tissues, and living cells. It enables the growth of the tooth by supplying nutrition. Tooth decay which extends to the pulp or an injury that cracks the tooth can bring harmful bacteria from the oral cavity into contact with the pulp. This can cause infection of the pulp leading to toothache.
Root canal therapy is a procedure performed to remove the infected or damaged pulp from the chamber and restore the tooth. Our dentist in Scottsdale cleans the chamber and uses dental fillings for restoration. They ensure to clear the infection so that it does not spread to other teeth. Root canal treatment in Scottsdale can quickly heal the damaged tooth and avoid dental infection in the future.
Why Is Root Canal Treatment Essential?
Our Scottsdale dentist confirms the root canal treatment after performing a thorough examination of your tooth. An infected pulp or a pulp that is damaged from injury may have to be replaced to protect the tooth and the other teeth nearby. Sometimes repeated restorative procedures on a tooth can damage its pulp. Infection or damage of the pulp can lead to severe toothache, if left untreated, the infection can completely destroy the tooth and spread to another tooth nearby. The infection can get into the bloodstream and affect the overall health of the patient.
Root canal treatment isn’t advised directly as soon as the dentist notices that the pulp is inflamed. The inflammation is the first stage and the infection is the second of pulp damage. Both these stages have different symptoms. So how do you know if you have to get a root canal treatment? Our dentist is someone who can rightly advise you.
The following are some of the conditions which may give you a hint that a root canal treatment is necessary:
- There’s a pain in the tooth when you bite.
- The tooth is sensitive to heat/cold and sensitivity lasts for quite some time.
- The tooth is broken.
- The tooth is discolored.
Through root canal treatment, the dentist removes the infected pulp and cleans the chamber to ensure that there are no remains of infection.
Root Canal Procedure in Scottsdale
Dr. Call first examines your tooth, takes X-rays, and then goes through a questionnaire with the patient — it will help in checking the condition of the tooth. On confirmation that a root canal treatment is necessary, our dentist speaks to patients about the same and makes them understand the need. A local anesthetic is administered to the patient when performing the root canal treatment. Dental dams are used to isolate the tooth from the surroundings and keep the area clean from saliva. An opening is made in the tooth and dental instruments are used to remove the pulp and clean the chamber. Bio-compatible materials are used to fill the pulp chamber. Finally, the opening is closed using dental filling materials and a dental crown is cemented over the tooth to protect it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Root canal therapy refers to a treatment in which a dentist removes the bacterial infection that has entered in tooth pulp or nerve. Inside of each tooth, there is a soft inner tissue called the pulp tissue, the pulp is housed in a tube or pipe inside the root called the root canal, the tissue is also called the nerve because it contains nerve tissue.
Listed are the symptoms that require root canal treatment:
Toothache: The high sensitivity of teeth while biting food
Swelling: Swelling of the gum region encircling the tooth
Damaged tooth: A chip, hole, or crack in your tooth
If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, please call our Scottsdale dentist at (480) 359-3513 to schedule an appointment.
Root canal therapy is a very easy process in which a small hole is made in the chewing surface of the tooth and these tubes or pipes are then cleaned out and sealed up. The most common causes of nerve damage include deep cavities, deep fillings, crowns, cracks, and trauma.
The short answer is no — there are different kinds of anesthetic techniques available to make the procedure very comfortable and pain-free. The comment we hear all the time is that ‘the procedure was much easier than I expected at Reimage Dental Studio!
Root canal treatment is needed when a nerve is exposed through tooth decay, or the nerve becomes painful. And what happens is that the inside of the tooth has to be cleaned out right up into the roots and is often done by an endodontist who is a specialist in root canal treatment.
One of the early signs and symptoms is some form of thermo-sensitivity. Thermo-sensitivity can be cold, can be hot, and also for sweet sensitivity, and even when you’re chewing you feel discomfort or irritation on that tooth. The most important thing is if that sensitivity is just a little bit, it doesn’t linger for more than a minute, then, for the most part, it might just be some root exposure or there is a cavity that needs to be addressed.
But if that sensitivity is more than a minute or when you bite down that pain just lingers tremendously for a while you know the nerve has been damaged. So we can pretty much tell when the nerve is damaged and needs a root canal or the nerve is not damaged and doesn’t need a root canal based on the symptom that the patient describes to us.
Root canal recovery periods are varied as the anatomies of the individual root canal system, the severity of pain and infection, and the techniques used to treat them. The more appointments needed to complete each process, the longer it takes for the root canal to heal.