How a Root Canal Save an infected tooth?
Your teeth are very complex and delicate structure in your body. The pulp,which is a soft material inside the tooth consists of blood vessels, connective tissues and nerves. Wondering why we are talking about the anatomy of a tooth? Well, to understand root canal, you need to understand the anatomy of tooth first.
The reasons for damage of the pulp can vary according to the different situation. It might be a simply tooth decay to an accident, or a hard blow or a crack in the tooth that can lead to the damage of the living tissue inside the tooth. Any infection on the pulp can become severe over time and root canal is the solution to treat the infected pulp.
What is a Root Canal Therapy?
A root canal is a small tube through which the nerves enter into the root and pulp of the tooth. This is where the bacterial infection happens and any infection in the pulp can cause excess blood flow and cellular activity inside the tooth, leading to pressure inside. This is the cause of severe pain that you experience.
Root canal treatment is a series of procedure to fix the infected pulp of the tooth, and to prevent from further infection. The dentist accesses the soft tissue of the pulp and removes the infectious pulp and any abscess inside the tooth and then fills the root canal with a special material. These procedures happen over a span of 2-3 dental visits and are usually not painful. However in some situations, local anesthesia will be given to the patient to make the treatment as painless as possible.
A root canal is often paired with a crown filling to make sure the tooth doesn’t break or fracture due to the root canal treatment itself. This is because even after the treatment, a tooth can show weakness and might need an additional support. You can choose the material for the crown depending on your personal choice and situation.
The complications of a root canal are so rare and in such cases the infected tooth is extracted and removed. This usually happens when there’s an undetected crack or breakage of the inner material. There might be infections outside the root too, which can lead to further infections in some cases. Most of the time, your dentist will detect it early in the treatment stage and will recommend extraction or other treatments if they feel root canal might not be sufficient.
Do you want to know more about root canal treatment and how it can benefit you? Get in touch with our experienced dental team at Crystal Dental today.