Root Canal Treatment
Root canal treatment falls into a field of dentistry called endodontics, which deals with the nerve, or sensitive inner portion of the tooth. Root canal treatment, and other related endodontic procedures, have helped millions of patients overcome poor tooth health and frequently reduce painful problems.
With root canal treatment, your dentist removes the inflamed, infected or necrotic (dead) nerve from inside your tooth, giving the area a careful cleaning and then inserting a root filling material into the root where the nerve originally was. This prevents the tooth rot from being exposed, protecting your jaw from possible infection that can enter through the tooth.
Root Canal Treatment over the years
Root canal treatment and other endodontic procedures have evolved a great deal in the last few years. Through endodontics, it is now possible to predict, treat and save a tooth that, just years ago, would have required extraction.
At The Dental Chiang Mai, our highly skilled endodontists will be pleased to discuss endodontic treatment with you should this area of dentistry be required as part of your personal treatment plan. You will be greeted by friendly, knowledgeable dental professionals who can guide you through treatment and ensure you know all you need to about endodontics.
The Root Canal Treatment Procedure
1 Tooth Evaluation
The first stage of an root canal procedure is for your dentist to carefully evaluate your tooth to ensure that endodontics is the best treatment option for you. Dental x-rays will form part of this evaluation process so that your dentist can look under the surface of your tooth to assess the bone and structures of the root.
2 Local Anaesthetic
After numbing your tooth with a local anaesthetic, your dentist will place a special cover over your tooth called a dental dam. This protects your airway whilst the endodontic treatment is being completed and also prevents saliva contaminating the tooth. Your dentist will then remove any filling in your tooth and use a special drill to expose the nerve. This will be entirely painless.
3 Root Cleansing
Your dentist will remove the diseased nerve and will cleanse and shape the canals in your root so that an ideal root filling can be placed.
4 Temporary Filling
Often your dentist will put a special antiseptic into your tooth and then put in a temporary filling. You will then wait a few days to have the root filling completed.
5 Root Filling
Finally, your dentist will place a special root filling material into your root canals and then put a filling in your tooth. It is often the case that your tooth will require extra protection from fracture and so often a crown or inlay/onlay will be the best way to achieve this protection in the longer term.
Root canal treatment- Getting your tooth treated before it is too late
Root canal treatment or endodontic treatment or root canal is a dental procedure to treat the infection at the centre of a tooth. This can be well treated by an endodontist, a dentist who specializes in root canal treatment.
When is there a need for root canal treatment?
This treatment is needed when the pulp becomes diseased or inflamed or typically when you see the middle portion of it getting black. In this treatment, the endodontist removes the diseased pulp. Then the pulp chamber and the root canal of the tooth is cleaned and sealed properly. If it is not removed then your tooth may suffer from pain and swelling and there may be a possibility to remove the tooth.
Procedure It can be treated by your dentist or an endodontist. In case of a child's tooth treatment, you may refer to a pediatric dentist. Generally, a pediatric dentist has minimum 2 years of extra university training in treating children's oral problems. A general root canal may follow these steps:
- Your tooth is given a local freezing anesthesia.
- A rubber dam is placed around the tooth to protect it from the bacteria in the saliva during the treatment.
- To reach the root canal system and the damaged pulp, the endodontist makes an opening in the tooth.
- The pulp is then removed by cleaning and enlarging the root cal system with the help of fine dental instruments.
- Right after the cleaning, the canal is filled and sealed.
- Then the opening of the tooth is treated. It is also sealed by either filling temporarily or permanently.
Sessions required
It can be treated in 1 or 2 sessions. You may have tender tooth for the first two weeks. If you have some swelling or bad pain consult your dentist or endodontist .this does not have 100% success rate. In some rare cases, a second root canal treatment may be needed. For the retreatment, the material in the root canal is taken out and the canal is cleaned, shaped and filled again. There are chances of getting a cavity or gum disease after the treatment as it does not protect your teeth from all kinds of damage. To avoid any failure, proper dental care should be taken and regular dental visits. Generally, the tooth that has root canal can be saved from getting it pulled out or extracted.
After care
After you are done with the root canal treatment, you do have to take lot of precautionary steps to care of it so that it does not create a problem for you in future.
- Until, all the treatment sessions are over you should avoid eating any hard food.
- You should quit smoking, if you do.
- Avoid too much sugary food in your diet.
- Maintain good health and oral hygiene.