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ROOT CANAL

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Broadway Dental Clinic

Root canal treatment, also known as endodontic treatment, is the process of removing infected, injured or dead pulp from your tooth. 

Endodontics

  • When the nerve of your tooth becomes infected, a successful root canal treatment lets you keep the tooth rather than having to pull it out. Keeping your tooth helps to prevent your other teeth from drifting out of line and causing jaw problems. Saving a natural tooth avoids having to replace it with an artificial tooth.

A Healthy Tooth

When bacteria (germs) enter your tooth through deep cavities, cracks or flawed fillings, your tooth can become abscessed. An abscessed tooth is a tooth with an infection in the pulp. If the pulp becomes infected, it needs to be removed. An abscessed tooth may cause pain and/or swelling. Your dentist may notice the infection from a dental x-ray or from other changes with the tooth. If left untreated, an abscessed tooth can cause serious oral health problems.

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An Abscessed Tooth

Who does this procedure?

Your dentist may do root canal treatment or refer you to an endodontist. An endodontist is a dentist who has completed a university post-graduate specialty program in endodontics. Endodontics is a specialty of dentistry concerned with the treatment of the dental pulp or nerve of the tooth.

How is a root canal treatment done?

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  • The dentist gives you a local anesthetic (freezing).

  • To protect your tooth from bacteria in your saliva during the treatment, the dentist places a rubber dam around the tooth being treated.

  • The dentist makes an opening in the tooth to reach the root canal system and the damaged pulp.

  • Using very fine dental instruments, the dentist removes the pulp by cleaning and enlarging the root canal system.

  • After the canal has been cleaned, the dentist fills and seals the canal.

  • The opening of the tooth is then sealed with either a temporary or permanent filling.

The root canals are filled and sealed

Tooth restoration after root canal treatment

After a root canal treatment, your tooth has to be restored (fixed) to look, feel and work as much like a natural tooth as possible. If an endodontist performed your root canal treatment, he or she will fill the opening of the tooth with a temporary filling and send you back to your dentist or prosthodontist for tooth restoration.
A prosthodontist is a dental specialist who restores and replaces teeth using crowns, bridges, dentures and implants. Your dentist or specialist may use a permanent filling or a crown to restore your tooth. The choice of restoration will depend on the strength of the part of the tooth that’s left. A back tooth will likely need a crown because chewing puts a great deal of force on back teeth. If there is not enough of the tooth left, posts may be used to help support the crown.

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The crown is cemented into place

What else should I know?

Root canal treatment may be done in 1 or 2 appointments. After root canal treatment, your tooth may be tender for the first week or two. Bad pain or swelling is NOT common. If this happens, call your dentist or endodontist.
You can still get a cavity or gum disease after a root canal treatment. Root canal treatment does not protect your tooth from other types of damage. With proper care and regular dental visits, the tooth could last as long as your other teeth. Most of the time, a tooth that has had a root canal treatment can be saved. However, there are cases where everything possible has been done to save a tooth and still the tooth must be extracted (pulled).

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Root canal retreatment

Most root canal treatments are successful. But in some rare cases, a second root canal treatment is needed. This is called a retreatment. When retreating a tooth, the root canal filling material is taken out, and the canal is recleaned, reshaped and refilled.

Root canal surgery

Sometimes root canal surgery is needed when a regular root canal treatment cannot be done or when it has not worked. Surgery is done to:

  • Check the end of the root for fractures (cracks).

  • Remove parts of the root that could not be cleaned during regular root canal treatment.

  • Clear up an infection that did not heal after regular treatment.

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Saturday - Sunday Appointments

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