Root canal therapy is a treatment used for saving and repairing an infected or severely damaged tooth rather than extracting it. Put simply, it entails cleaning the canals found in the roots of a tooth. In decades past, root canal therapy used to be painful. These days, however, with potent local anesthetics and dental advances, pain is actually minimal to non-existent during the procedure. Patients who’ve undergone the procedure even say that living with a damaged tooth is certainly more excruciating.
Here at Harken Dental Excellence in Spokane Valley, WA, your dentist, Dr. Brad Harken, regularly performs root canals to save teeth as well as avoid extractions and further complications.
Do I Need Root Canal Therapy?
Your teeth contain a soft core, known as the tooth pulp. It extends from the tooth’s visible portion, the crown, to the tooth root’s tip in your jawbone. Inside of the pulp is connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves. If a tooth has a huge cavity or crack, bacteria could easily gain access to the pulp.
If you fail to keep the bacteria away, it will flourish and cause a tooth abscess or severe infection in the pulp, resulting in pulp death, tooth loss, and bone loss. With this in mind, you may require root canal therapy if you’re experiencing the following symptoms:
- Tooth pain or toothache
- A cavity in the affected tooth
- Gum swelling
- Swelling around the neck and face
- Sensitivity to temperatures
- A tooth abscess
Root Canal Therapy Basics
Root canals typically take two or more visits to your dentist’s Spokane, WA, practice, depending on the severity of your case. The first step involves taking X-rays of the affected tooth to determine the severity of the damage. Next, you’ll be given a local anesthetic and fitted with a dental dam to help keep the tooth saliva-free and squeaky clean for the root canal treatment. Decay will then be removed and an access point will be created via the crown so that your dentist can get into your pulp chamber and get rid of all the diseased and infected pulp.
The last stage of treatment involves the tooth restoration process. Since the tooth is usually weakened from decay or has a huge dental filling, it will need ample protection so that it can function normally and safeguarded from future damage. This is typically done by installing a realistic-looking synthetic tooth called a dental crown.
For More Questions or Details on Root Canals, Call Us
Call (509) 245-2323 to arrange your evaluation with Dr. Brad Harken here at Harken Dental Excellence in Spokane Valley, WA.