Root Canal (Pulp) Treatment

Root canal treatment, endodontics, is a wonderful method of saving teeth that would otherwise be lost. Perhaps no dental treatment is more maligned, feared, and misunderstood, than root canals. If your tooth needs a root canal, you should relax. The treatment is really quite easy. All teeth have a hollow core, which is filled with pulp tissue. Pulp tissue is a hybrid combination of blood vessels and nerve tissue. When the pulp dies, it does not regenerate and the space left is a perfect haven for bacteria. This infection leads to what is called and "abscessed tooth". Abscessed teeth can produce some of the most severe, intense pain that is experienced by humans. Perhaps it is this terrible pain that people relate to when they think back and refer to their root canal experience. The root canal treatment itself involves opening into the tooth, which generally causes immediate relief, draining off the infected fluids, medicating, and filling the internal core of the tooth. This process is usually painless because the nerve of the tooth is already dead. Teeth can become non-vital or abscessed for a number of reasons: Serious decay penetrating into the pulp chamber. Trauma that crushes the blood supply to the tooth. Cracks that penetrate the pulp chamber. Severe grinding that disturbs the pulp. Symptoms of an abscessed tooth include: Severe throbbing. Swelling of the gums above the tooth. A loose tooth. A foul tasting drainage from the tooth. The infectious drainage from an abscessed tooth passes into the blood stream and presents a potentially serious threat to the patent's well-being, which can even result in death. Patients are best advised not to wait on treatment with infected teeth and should contact our office for an immediate examination.