ROOT CANAL TREATMENT
At Ferny Hills Dental, we aim to help you save and keep your teeth. Keeping your natural teeth is often the best solution as it prevents replacing teeth which can be more time consuming and costly. When a tooth is injured or infected from decay to the extent that the nerves are involved quite often the tooth will create excruciating pain as the tooth is ‘dying’. Sometimes the tooth is dead without any symptoms. Regardless, left untreated, the infection can cause bone and gum damage as well as spread to surrounding areas which can have serious health implications.
Root canal treatment relieves pain and involves cleaning the tooth from the inside out and removing bacteria that now reside inside the tooth causing the infection. This procedure offers the opportunity for you to save the tooth from being extracted.
Root canal treatment is the process of cleaning and removal of debris from the centre of the tooth where the nerve (dental pulp) lives. Once it is cleaned it is then filled. As the tooth no longer has a nerve it can become brittle and weak over time hence a crown is the best long term option to help protect and seal the root canal. Once root canal treatment is completed, it still looks, feels and functions like your other teeth.
It is a very intricate procedure using very fine special dental instruments to clean the centre of the roots. The first appointment involves using special dental equipment to find the length of the tooth. Our dentists then clean the infected nerve tissue out and clean all the way to the tip of the roots. Depending on the amount of infection that is in the tooth and the complexity of each individual tooth multiple appointments may be required to allow time for the infection to clear.
Once the tooth is thoroughly cleaned, it is filled. During all of our root canal procedures a special rubber sheet is placed over your mouth to make it more comfortable for you as well as keeping the tooth away from saliva to increase the success rate of the treatment.
This is a very common question. In most cases, no. Most people remember the excruciating toothache they had and often associated it with root canal treatment. The whole procedure feels like getting a filling done except it takes longer. Our highly skilled dentist at Ferny Hills Dental will make sure you are comfortably numb so you do not feel the procedure. Most of our patients actually feel relieve rather than pain afterwards.
- continuous toothache
- loose tooth
- sensitivity to hot/cold food and drinks
- Tooth that is painful to touch /chew
If you are concerned or notice any of the above symptoms and would like it checked please contact us. Make an appointment by calling 3351 2731 with one of our caring dentists.