Root canals

What happens during root canal treatment? Learn more about this quick, comfortable procedure that can relieve your pain and save your natural tooth. Make an appointment with Preston Smiles before the discomfort and/or infection gets severe.

The term root canal scares and intimidates a lot of patients. People often relate the procedure to discomfort or even pain and dread getting it done. Understanding what root canal is and what’s involved may help ease your mind and ultimately help you understand why it is needed for the best treatment outcome. Millions of teeth are treated and saved this way each year, relieving pain and making teeth healthy again.

Inside your tooth, beneath the white enamel and a hard layer called dentin, is a soft tissue called pulp. This tissue contains blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue, which help grow the root of your tooth during its development. A fully developed tooth can survive without the pulp because the tooth continues to be nourished by the tissues surrounding it.

Modern endodontic treatment is nothing like those old sayings! It’s very similar to a routine filling and can usually be completed in two to three appointments, depending on the condition of your tooth and your personal circumstances. Getting a root canal is relatively painless and extremely effective. You’ll be back to smiling, biting and chewing with ease in no time.

There are many reasons why you have a toothache. It could be due to an infection within the tooth, gum or both, inflammation or trauma. There was a time where injured or heavily infected teeth are pulled. Nowadays we aim to preserve your teeth for as long as possible and as much as possible. A root canal treatment is often the solution. After all, your teeth are meant to last you for a lifetime.

What symptoms can you experience?

• Sensitivity
• Pain
• Swelling
• Tender gums
• Pus or obcess
• Discolouration
• Headache
• Achy jaws

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, Call us so we can help you today

When is a root canal required?

Although dentists use fillings to restore decays and cavities, there are cases where a cavity is simply too big or the infection is too deep for that option. This typically happens to chipped and cracked tooth, deep fillings and cavities. There are situations where the cause is unknown. In all cases the infection or damage is so deep that bacteria enters the deeper soft tissue of the tooth and when left untreated the bacteria and spread to your jawbone and the rest of the body causing further damage.

Pain is not always associated and the degree of pain does not necessarily correlate to the severity of the infection.

What do our dentists do during a root canal procedure?

At Preston Smiles, our dentist will form an assessment upon examination and an X-ray will be taken to precisely locate the problem and accurately predict the outcome.