Category: Root Canal

One fine morning, you wake up thirsty and go for a glass of water from your refrigerator. You suddenly find one of your teeth severely sensitive to the chillness. You head to the doctor later, and after the check up, he says, “Your tooth is dying. Root Canal Therapy can save it up”. It’s common these days and its good to know more on what Root Canal therapy is about to protect your tooth.

What is root Canal Therapy?

“Root canal” denotes the natural cavity in the tooth’s centre. The pulp is the soft area that runs from the crown of the tooth to its root tips. The tooth nerve lies within this. The pulp/tooth’s nerve is vital in the primary age when the tooth emerges through the gums. After it, it is not so functional but only sensory to hot and cold conditions. But if this gets damaged, then that signals trouble.

Common causes of pulp damage:

• A deep cavity infection
• A cracked tooth
• Severe injury/knock to the tooth

Root Canal Therapy:

During the Root Canal therapy, the Dentist removes the damaged Pulp through a small drill at the back of the tooth, cleans the infection around and a filling/crown is placed to safeguard the tooth. It is as simple as that. What is more important is that you get the treatment at the right time.

When do you need to take a Root Canal Therapy?

The symptoms of pulp damage include tooth pain, sudden onset of prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold, teeth discoloration, swelling/inflammation in the gums, tender gums seeming a little separated from the teeth.

Top 5 reasons why you shouldn’t delay a Root Canal Therapy:

• 1. A tooth with pulp damage is slowly dying with the infection build up: Unlike the hard outer teeth, the inner pulp is soft and is very susceptible to infection once it is exposed to bacteria. So before you know, the bacteria spread and start consuming the health of your tooth. Root Canal Therapy stops the infection rightly.
• 2. Root Canal therapy relieves pain: It’s a myth that Root Canal therapy is painful. In actual sense, the pain of the infected tooth is far painful than the treatment itself. With modern medicines today, the patient is placed under anesthetic effect and there is no pain involved. Root Canal therapy completely alleviates the pain of the infected tooth and sets you at ease.
• 3. An infected tooth won’t heal on its own: Sometimes it’s a common mistake that an infected tooth is left unattended, and over a period of time the pain stops too. It doesn’t mean it is ok: but the nerve is completely dead. It is important to get it removed at the right time.
• 4. It could get worse: And that’s not it. If left untreated, the bacterial infection could spread from the dead pulp into the tissues and jaws and cause severe pain. The result is painful pus-filled abscess wanting immediate treatment then. Worst case, it can also cause a systemic inflammation to the whole body, putting you at risk to serious conditions like heart attack or stroke.
• 5. Root Canal Treatment Can Save the Tooth: It is quick, painless, and needed. Having understood the wellness that Root anal therapy, it is important that you stick to a timely treatment when you experience symptoms.

Sometimes there are no symptoms too. In this case, you never know your tooth is dying, unless the conditions gets worse and shows up. So a regular dental check up will do the needful and helps you to diagnose a dying tooth at a much earlier stage too and fix it up. Preventive healthcare is always advisable and one after the effect. If you are in and around Sydney and your tooth is in pain, Rainbow Dental practice is a good place to get to. Rainbow Dental Practice is a Family Dental Clinic open on Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays. Nothing like a dentist’s touch to gift you with a painless smile.

Root canal means the cleaning out of the nerve canals which are situated in inside a tooth’s root. This treatment is done when a tooth is infected or damaged. In olden days, the tooth was usually removed when it decayed, but with root canal procedure, you can now save your natural tooth.

Structure of the tooth

The tooth has two parts – the crown and the root.

The outermost layer of the tooth is enamel – a coating of white, hard substance on the crown that protects it from damage. Enamel is the hardest substance in our body, which protects the inner parts of the teeth from the wear and tear caused by everyday use.

Dentin is the second layer. It is made up of bone like material that is softer than enamel, and carries some of the nerve fibres which cause pain when something goes wrong with the tooth.

The pulp is the vital part of tooth made up of soft tissue in the centre of the tooth.It contains blood vessels, lymph tissue and nerves.

What is root canal treatment?

Endodontic or root canal treatment is advised when the tooth becomes infected. When the tooth is decayed, you will need to remove the dead tissue and pulp from its interior. The narrow channels in the pulp are emptied and cleaned, and then filled with materials to reduce pain and recurring infection.

An infection in the tooth can be painful. Since root canal treatments are advertised to be easy and painless, many people think of tooth pain and root canal as a fact of life which has to be accepted.

But why go through root canal treatment at all if it is possible to avoid it through proactive care of the teeth from the beginning?

When do you need root canal treatment?

When the tooth is injured or is not taken care of as it should be, the oral bacteria and infection enters into the pulp, causing decay. Exposure to bacteria traumatizes the pulp and kills it slowly. This can cause enormous pain because the pulp contains nerve endings.

• Root canal becomes inevitable when bacteria enter pulp and make it vulnerable to deep infections.
• When a tooth develops a crack or chip in the tooth, it invites bacteria to enter into tooth and cause decay.
• A tooth may become infected when old fillings fall off, exposing inner tooth to bacteria.

The best way to avoid root canal is keeping the excellent standard of oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist.It is also important to insist on the best materials available for any fillings and crowns.

How to prevent root canal treatment

The best way to prevent root canal later in life is to initiate good dental care habits in your children from the time they are born. Check out this infographic on Root Canal Aftercare.

• Wipe your baby’s mouth with a soft cloth before they go to sleep for long hours.
• Once the teeth erupt, start using a thin film of baby toothpaste and use a baby tooth brush to clean the baby’s teeth.
• As children grow, insist on regular schedule for brushing of teeth.
• Brushing and flossing children’s teeth before bedtime is critical. Parents should take active role in brushing schedule of their children till they are 7 – 9 years old.
• There are disclosing rinses available, which will stain the plaque in the mouth. This will help children making efforts to reduce plaque from specific places.
• Fluoride helps in reducing acid in our mouth. Use children and adult fluoride rinse.
• Good oral hygiene habits combined with regular checkups with your dentist will keep root canal away from you and your children for long years.

A root canal treatment is a procedure where the dentist removes the infected pulp, cleans the nerve canals of the root, and then seals the space. The treatment is necessary in cases where the tooth pulp has become infected. Common reasons for infection and inflammation include dental cavities, cracks or chips, or trauma. If the infection is left untreated, it may lead to pain or an abscess. Here’s All you need to know about root canal treatment.

Though the root canal procedure has a reputation of being extremely painful, with the modern techniques and anaesthetics that are available today, most procedures can be carried out painlessly. You may experience a little soreness after the root canal, but it should go away within a few hours. Normal post procedure pain can be countered by using pain relief medication. If the pain persists for more than a few days or the site presents with the swelling, call your dentist immediately.

Reasons for pain after root canal

There are a number of reasons why you might be experiencing pain after a root canal procedure.

Nerve endings in ligaments attached to the tooth

A root canal is supposed to completely remove all living pulp tissue from inside the tooth. Though this is done, some nerve endings may remain in the ligaments that are responsible for attaching the tooth to the bone. The ligaments have nerve fibres which may feel pain. These nerve fibres are the most common source of pain after a root canal procedure.

Inflammation of periapical tissue

Another reason for pain after root canal is the inflammation of the periapical tissue after the procedure. Periapical means surrounding the tip of the root of a tooth. The inflammation may be because of the extrusion of sealing material or due to aggressive instrumentation during the root canal procedure. Rarely, the root canal files can go beyond the apical boundary and may deposit some debris near the tooth root, or cause damage to the ligaments. Inflammation that happens during the procedure usually resolves on its own after some time.

High bite

A root canal procedure changes the shape of the tooth and may cause bite problems in some patients. A high bite can cause discomfort post the root canal procedure, but it can be easily corrected. When the patient bites down and did the root canal the tooth hurts, the bite must be readjusted.

Persistent infection

After the root canal is completed, it is necessary for you to visit the dentist for a checkup. This is to ensure that no infections have developed and the tooth and gums are healing nicely. If the patient develops an infection around the periapical region and if it is left neglected, the persistent infection may cause severe pain. A procedure called apocoectomy may be necessary for severe and persistent infection after root canal. The procedure involves surgical removal of the tip of the root.

Tooth fracture

A root canal tooth is not as strong as untreated teeth and can easily break. One of the most common complications after root canal is breakage or fracture of the tooth. This happens because of two reasons. The first is that during the procedure, the tooth is hollowed out, making it structurally weak. Secondly, the procedure removes all the living material inside the root which makes it brittle. This is the reason why it is advisable to place a crown after the root canal is completed. The crown helps protect the tooth and also rebuild it. Sometimes, the tooth may also fracture because of carelessness of the dentist. Get a root canal procedure done only by an experienced dentist to avoid such situations.

If you are having a toothache, contact us on 02 8021 5285 to book in your dental appointment. We do have same day appointments available.