Root Canal Therapy
Endodontic Treatment
What is Root Canal Therapy?
Root canal therapy is the process by which we completely numb the tooth, enter the tooth from the top, and clean the inside of the roots to remove any inflamed pulp tissue and bacteria.
Why would I want Root Canal Therapy?
There are many reasons someone might need root canal therapy, and this is probably the most misunderstood dental procedure of all.
Root Canal Therapy is, more often than not, a painless procedure that is used to help make sure you can keep your natural tooth as long as possible. We will discuss your specific case in the office, but here are a few reasons we may decide to proceed with Root Canal Therapy:
- Your tooth has an infection around the root
- Bacteria has imbedded itself too deep inside the tooth to only do a Filling
- Your tooth is badly damaged and we don’t have enough tooth left for a Crown
- You are experiencing pain with your tooth that has not been resolved with another procedure
How does it work?
The process is actually very simple. Imagine standing inside a cave with few tunnels going in different directions. This is what a tooth looks like to us when we go deep inside to perform Root Canal Therapy.
The root canal procedure involves finding all these tunnels (usually just 1 for front teeth, and 2-4 for back teeth), removing any remnants of pulp, cleaning the walls, rinsing out the bacteria, and then sealing the tunnels so new bacteria cannot get back inside.
Root canals on front teeth may just require a filling as a final seal, but back teeth require a crown to stabilize the tooth to prevent future breaking or cracking.
More information:
Root canal therapy has developed quickly over the last several years with the advent of cone beam 3D technology. Because of this, we currently refer out all root canals to one of several local Endodontists. Despite the fact that I have personally performed this procedure hundreds of times, studies show that you’re far more likely to get a root canal treated ideally by a specialist since they are utilizing technology that is specific to root canal treatment that is simply cost prohibitive to the general dentist.
Despite this fact, all teeth will need either a filling or a crown after root canal treatment is completed, and is something we will do for you here at NorthStar Dental. To see more of our comprehensive dentistry services, click here!