Are You A Candidate For Root Canal Therapy?

Posted by Dr Angel Halim on August 20th, 2019

What is root canal? Root canal therapy is the treatment used for the purpose of saving and repairing a badly decaying or infected tooth. It is often done when there are infection and damage in the pulp which is made up of nerves and blood vessels. It is during this therapy where the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed once the pulp had been removed. Most people are afraid of having to submit to this therapy because of the belief of it being really painful, the truth is that the discomfort that you feel up until the time you have the treatment done is much more painful than the actual procedure itself.

So what is the dental pulp? It is the soft area found in the centre of the tooth containing the connective tissues, nerves and blood vessels. Also, the nerves of your tooth are found in the root, also known as the tooth legs. Your root canals travel from the tip of the tooth's root all the way to the pulp chamber, but once the tooth had emerged through the gums, it will only maintain it's a sensory function which is to provide sensations for heat or cold. The overall function of the tooth isn't dependent on the loss and existence of its nerves. However, it becomes more vulnerable to fracture after treatment had been done.

The tooth's pulp can be irritated or contaminated due to deep decays, repeated dental procedures, very large fillings, a chip or crack in the tooth or sometimes even trauma to the face.

The damaged pulp had to be removed because within its chambers bacteria begins to multiply and the bacteria along with remnants of the drying pulp can cause infection or tooth abscess which if left unchecked may lead to swelling of the face, neck or head; bone loss around the root tip and occurrence of a hole through the tooth's side that drains straight to the gums and through the cheek skin.

Root Canal Therapy can only be administered if you are experiencing the following signs and symptoms, extreme pain while chewing, continued pain or sensitivity to hot and cold long after exposure to it had been stopped, tooth discolouration, tenderness and swelling near the gums and constant, repeated pimple in the gums, if you are continuously suffering from any of this symptoms it's time to consult your dentist to prevent further infection or tooth damage.

What really happens during a root canal procedure, root canal therapy needs one or more clinic visits and it can only be done either by a dentist or an endodontist which is also a dentist but specialises in the prevention, diagnosis, causes and treatment of the disease or injury, the option of which type of dentist would be best for you would depend on the degree of difficulty of the root canal procedure that you have to undergo. The first step would be to take x-rays to gauge tooth and infection damage, next is to keep the area dry and free of saliva, for this, a rubber dam is often used. Then an access hole will be drilled into the tooth, water and sodium chloride is often used to flush away debris. Once the tooth is totally cleaned, it needs to be sealed. For the next appointment, the interior of the tooth needs to be filled with a rubber compound and a sealer paste. Finally, the last step usually involves further tooth restoration. It is often said that a tooth that has undergone a root canal therapy isn't that strong because it has been subjected to large fillings, tooth decay in a large scale as well as other problems making the tooth weak and prone to damage. For these reasons, a crown or a crown with a post is often placed on the tooth to prevent breakage and to restore the total tooth functionality. 

You don't have to worry though because root canal therapy had been known to have a high success rate of 95%, but proper maintenance and care is still dependent on you, so always remember to brush and floss 3x a day and always visit your Hornsby dentist regularly, to ensure that your root canal therapy would last a lifetime.