Root Canal Therapy
It seems as if everybody has a horror story regarding root canal therapy. And maybe in the past there were instances of painful procedures. However root canal therapy is now performed every day with no discomfort for our patients. With the advent of new anaesthetics (novocaine) and procedures, root canal therapy has become a commonly performed and painless procedure.
Q: What exactly is root canal therapy and what's the best and most pain-free way to do it on my tooth?
A: When you were a young child and your teeth were forming, your body built your teeth from both the inside and the outside, much like building a house. The cells and the blood supply that fed them are shed from the outside of the tooth when it erupts into your mouth. However, the cells and their blood supply that formed the inside of your tooth remain in place. In rodents, these cells continue to make new tooth structure as the animals wear down their teeth from use. In humans, this ability is lost, so the cells and blood supply becomes something like your appendix and only noticed when they become infected.
Trauma, fractured teeth and deep decay can all lead to infection of these cells inside of your tooth. Hence, the need for periodic check-ups from your dentist to catch problems before they become bigger problems. Once these cells become infected we must remove the infected tissue and place a filling inside of your root to prevent any new infection from getting into the area.
With new nickel-titanium super flexible instruments that we now have, we can remove the infected tissue much more quickly and easily than ever before. Instead of laboriously using hand instruments to remove the tissue, we can use our new computer controlled instruments to quickly and painlessly, remove the infection and place a long-lasting filling to seal off and protect your tooth. And with our digital x-rays and electronic root length finders, we save you lots of time and radiation too!
While undergoing dental procedures is never as much fun as hanging out at the beach, we do our best to make our patients comfortable and pain-free when they visit us. If you have any questions, please give us a call or e-mail us.