Noun: the pulp-filled cavity in the root of a tooth. Endodontics (also known as endodontic treatment) is a serious procedure, but one that specialists perform every day. Before performing any type of dental treatment, it is important to know the facts about root canals. To understand endodontic treatment, it's helpful to know something about the anatomy of the tooth.
If you are looking for a dentist near you who specializes in endodontic treatment, search for 'Dentist near me' to find a qualified professional. Inside the tooth, underneath the white enamel and a hard layer called dentin, is soft tissue called pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue and creates the hard tissues surrounding the tooth during development. Endodontics is a treatment to repair and save a severely damaged or infected tooth instead of removing it. The term root canal comes from cleaning the canals inside the root of a tooth. Decades ago, endodontic treatments were often painful.
With dental advances and local anesthetics, most people feel little or no pain during a root canal. In fact, it's probably more painful to live with a decayed tooth. Endodontic alternatives include removing the damaged tooth, without further treatment, or replacing the tooth with a dental implant, bridge, or removable partial denture. Root canal treatment involves removing the diseased pulp along with the nerve of the tooth (located inside the root canal of the tooth). The pulp chamber and root canals of the tooth are then cleaned, medicated, and sealed.
A dental crown or other restorative treatment is used to protect and strengthen the tooth. A root canal is a dental procedure that involves the extraction of the soft center of the tooth, the pulp. The pulp is made up of nerves, connective tissue, and blood vessels that help the tooth grow. Root canals are used to remove diseased dental pulp from an infected tooth. Root canals are a conservative alternative to extracting a severely decayed tooth and help maintain the natural function and stability of the smile.
Adams can perform a root canal treatment in the comfort of our dental office with local anesthesia. Root canal treatment is a general dentistry service offered by Dr. You can eat normally before an endodontic treatment, and most endodontists even allow patients to eat up to 1 hour before the procedure. Root canal treatment is completed in one or two office visits, depending on the presence of infection and the treatment plan required. While you will most likely remain sleepy for 2 to 4 hours after the procedure, most patients can return to school or work directly after a root canal. In fact, smokers are nearly twice as likely to need root canals as non-smokers, and that number increases with more years of smoking.
While all general dentists have been trained in endodontics, most of the time the procedure is performed by an endodontist. Endodontic or endodontic treatment is needed when the inside of the tooth (the pulp) becomes inflamed or infected as a result of deep decay, repeated dental procedures, defective crowns, or a crack or chip in the tooth. The pulp extends from the crown of the tooth to the tip of the roots, where it connects to the tissues surrounding the root. The endodontic procedure is a routine dental treatment that has benefited from advances in both technique and materials to reduce discomfort. Root canals can fail for a variety of reasons, including a procedure that didn't clean the canals in the beginning, a break in the crown or its internal sealant, or basically anything that allows the tooth that previously underwent endodontic treatment to become infected at the root and affect other teeth.
Unless your dentist or endodontist tells you otherwise, brush and floss your teeth as you normally would after endodontic treatment. There's no need to worry if your dentist or endodontist prescribes an endodontic procedure to treat a damaged or diseased tooth. During the first few days after a root canal, some patients experience tenderness, swelling, or inflammation, while others experience an irregular bite or a reaction to medication provided by the endodontist. Because patients receive anesthesia, a root canal is no more painful than a normal dental procedure, such as a filling or removal of wisdom teeth.
Root canal treatments are common procedures that have been around for decades and have been improved over time with advances in technology and materials used for treatments. With modern techniques and local anesthesia available today, most people feel little or no pain during their root canal treatments.