It is almost certain that the most feared dental procedure, in the minds of many patients, is root canal treatment. This has become a standard \u2018marker\u2019 in films and books etc for the worst level of pain possible. There are probably good reasons for this. Certainly in days gone by, this procedure would have been significantly more \u2018hit and miss\u2019 with x-rays not yet being available to check for abscesses and inferior drills as well. Indeed, anaesthetics were probably more rudimentary back then and we suspect that most teeth affected in this way were simply extracted as it was the most straightforward option.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s blog we are going to look at the often misunderstood root canal procedure and how it’s used to help prevent tooth extraction in these circumstances.<\/p>\n
The soft pulp material contained in the root canals includes small blood vessels and the nerves of the tooth. Mostly, they do their job with no concern at all, protected by the tough enamel exterior of the tooth. The problems start to arise when this enamel is compromised and allows bacteria to enter into the inner part of the tooth known as the dentin layer.<\/p>\n
It is at this stage that decay starts and cavities begin to form. If you have regular check ups at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant<\/a> Clinic, there is every chance that these cavities will still be in their early stages and can be restored using a small\u00a0 filling. Sometimes though, this may not be the case. Deep damage to the tooth, trauma or a failure to have regular check ups may lead to the bacteria entering the root canals. With the nerves being located here, this can, as you can imagine, be pretty painful indeed.<\/p>\n When you come to us with a toothache or severe sensitivity, this is one of the things that we look for using x-rays. If we find that the root canals are, indeed, infected, there are two choices available; either a root canal procedure or to have the tooth extracted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More than occasionally, we see the look of fear on a patient\u2019s face when we tell them that they need to have this treatment. Back in time, this would have been understandable for the reasons mentioned earlier. Modern dentistry has changed all this though and although it is an invasive procedure, the improvement in local anaesthetics and the advent of x-rays makes this treatment no more uncomfortable than most invasive dental treatments.<\/p>\n The first thing we do is to take an x-ray to see what is happening in the root canals and to check for any abscesses that need to be treated before treatment starts. Once this is \u2018all clear\u2019 we then inject the area with a powerful local anaesthetic to make the treatment as comfortable as possible.<\/p>\n Once the tooth is numbed, we may need to remove a small section from the top so that the root canals can be accessed. The infected pulp material is then removed, including the nerves. The hollow canals are then thoroughly cleaned to remove any bacteria and then filled using a special dental filling known as gutta percha. Once we are happy that the canals are now sealed, we usually add a crown to restore the tooth both in appearance and strength.\u00a0 The tooth will now, in effect, be a \u2018dead\u2019 tooth with no feeling and while it is strong, care should be taken when eating hard foods as you won\u2019t be able to gauge how much you are biting down on things. We will discuss this with you at the treatment time.<\/p>\nRoot canal procedure<\/h3>\n
The extraction option<\/h3>\n