What Is Endodontic Treatment, and How Can an Endodontist Save Your Teeth?
Issues such as tooth pain, swelling, and sensitivity may arise due to infections inside the tooth. The inflammation affects the dental pulp’s nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues. When this occurs, you need the services of an endodontist. This is a dentist specializing in inner tooth treatments. Read to learn how the endodontist in Oshawa, ON, can save your teeth.
What Is Endodontic Treatment?
It is a treatment that focuses on preserving the natural smile and keeping your dentition healthy. Endodontic treatment deals with studying, diagnosing, and treating tissues in or around the tooth roots. It is required because the tooth, unlike other tissues in the body, cannot self-heal. If left untreated, the infection will spread, resulting in tooth loss.
The treatment involves disinfecting root canals and removing the pathological pulp. It also consists of cleaning the tooth roots and reshaping and filling the tooth. You may need endodontic treatment after dental injuries that affect the roots or if you have severe decay.
How Can an Endodontist Save Your Teeth?
If you have symptoms of a root canal infection, the endodontist in Oshawa, ON, will perform a diagnosis. First, they will scan the tooth to determine the extent of the damage. Next, they will surgically access the inner tooth parts. After that, treatment will progress according to the nature of the infection.
For example, the endodontist will clean and disinfect the area if the damage is not severe. They may remove only the damaged tissues and leave the healthy tissues if not all are diseased. Alternatively, the endodontist can extract all the tissues in the pulp to prevent re-infection.
Treatments Offered by an Endodontist
- Root canal therapy
Bacteria may enter the tooth after tooth decay, dental trauma, or you have leaky fillings. The bacteria infect the soft tissues inside the tooth resulting in an infection. Root canal therapy is required when the tissues at the center of a tooth are diseased.
Signs of an infected root canal are debilitating tooth pain, pain when chewing or biting, or extreme tooth sensitivity. If you do not seek treatment, the disease will progress, causing the tissues in the pulp to die. As a result, the initial symptoms will return, accompanied by the tooth’s swelling, abscesses, and pus. Additionally, the tooth will become darker in color.
When you go to the endodontist in Oshawa, ON, with these symptoms, they will recommend root canal therapy. The treatment focuses on removing the infected or dead tissues in the tooth roots. Your endodontist will ease the pain and discomfort due to the symptoms.
The root canal treatment begins with the administration of appropriate anesthesia and sedatives. Next, the specialist will make a small opening on the tooth to access the pulp. They will then remove the infected or dead tissues. Next, they will thoroughly clean the area and apply a topical antibiotic to eliminate all infections.
The next step involves shaping and filling the root canals using dental material. Next, the endodontist will seal the tooth to prevent bacteria from entering. Finally, they will place a restoration to enable the tooth to function properly.
- Endodontic Surgery
Sometimes, root canal therapy may be inadequate in saving an infected tooth. Therefore, the endodontist will perform surgery to remove the calcium deposits. They will also treat the damaged root surfaces and infected gums to ensure the area heals completely.
- Endodontic Re-treatment
Root canal therapy may fail for several reasons. Sometimes, the disease may be too severe for the used antibiotics to work. Other times, infected tissues may remain behind, causing a re-infection. Additionally, improper post-treatment care may result in root canal therapy failure.
Therefore, the endodontist will perform re-treatment to ensure the tooth roots heal properly. This procedure involves extracting the filling used initially and accessing the pulp again. The expert will check for causes of the root canal treatment failure through x-rays and scans. Next, they will clear any signs of infection and any impending infection. Finally, they will restore the tooth with a permanent filling or dental crown.
Tooth pain, swelling, or sensitivity are signs of an infection in the dental pulp. The symptoms should not be ignored because the disease will spread, leading to adverse effects. Instead, contact our endodontist at Conlin Dentistry for various endodontic treatments.