Root canal treatment (endodontics) is a dental procedure used to treat infection at the centre of a tooth. A root canal is done to save the tooth, which otherwise might have to be removed.
When is a root canal needed?
- tooth decay
- leaky fillings
- damage to teeth as a result of trauma, such as a fall
Root canal treatment is only required when dental Xrays show that the pulp has been damaged by a bacterial infection or there is a crack in the tooth or the tooth has devitalized due to trauma or gum disease
The pulp will begin to die if it’s infected by bacteria, allowing the bacteria to then multiply and spread.
The symptoms of a pulp infection include:
- pain when eating or drinking hot or cold food / drink
- pain when biting or chewing
- a loose tooth
- pain when biting or chewing returning
- swelling of the gum near the affected tooth
- pus oozing from the affected tooth
- facial swelling
- the tooth becoming a darker colour
It’s important to see your dentist if the tooth starts to hurt. If your tooth is infected, the pulp cannot heal by itself.
Leaving the infected tooth in your mouth may make it worse.
There may also be less chance of the root canal treatment working if the infection within your tooth becomes established.
Antibiotics a medicine to treat bacterial infections, are not effective in treating root canal infections.
How is a root canal treatment done:
It is done over 2 stages, can be done in one stage as well depends on the infection and the the dentist treating it:
- Extirpation – Initial cleaning of the tooth to get you out of pain
- Instrumentation and Obturation – Through cleaning of the tooth to the apex of the tooth and filling of the tooth with root canal material and a filling on top.
A root canal treatment is done under Local Anesthesia and is a pain free treatment. It should not hurt at all while doing the treatment. Afterwards it can be a bit sore for a few days depending on the infection in the tooth and ones own immunity to deal with the infection.
Here at The Dentist we do a lot of root canals and re-root canals (failed root canals done somewhere else). They are absolutely pain free and helps save your tooth. Our dentist has special interest in endodontics and has been doing it since 11 plus years now.
Some of our cases:
