Root Canal Treatments

Root canal treatment (also referred to as root canal therapy or endodontic therapy) becomes necessary when a cavity is allowed to reach all the way to the pulp-either through neglect or by missing regular cleaning and check-up that could have prevented or detected such issues before they became a problem. Sometimes deep restorations or trauma to a tooth may cause the nerve to be damaged to the point where it needs root canal therapy. Once this occurs the pulp becomes infected, and can even extend through the root tip and begin to eat away at the surrounding bone (this is an abscess). By the time the pulp is infected it must be treated and cannot heal on its own. It can even weaken the entire immune system. This is dangerous, not to mention very painful. Symptoms that the pulp has become infected may include sensitivity to hot/cold or to sweets, pain, swelling, pain with biting or pressure, and a bad taste in the mouth. Sometimes, however, no symptoms are apparent and the person is unaware of any problem until a checkup is performed.

A root canal is then performed to clean out the infected tooth pulp, and to disinfect the canals of the tooth. The only other treatment would be to extract the tooth. Once the infection is resolved, the canal(s) are filled in to prevent any further infection. Usually a core build-up and a crown are recommended for restoring a tooth that has had root canal therapy.