What Happens for a Root Canal Treatment?

            “Root canal” are two words most people never want to hear close together. Unfortunately for some, it’s the best course of action to save one’s teeth; possibly even their whole mouth. Houston root canal treatments are necessary when a tooth has become badly infected due to decay or injury and the dental pulp inside has become home to nasty bacteria. The treatment replaces the dental pulp to prevent the infection from spreading.

            Pulp

            The dental pulp is the spongy part on the inside of your teeth that supplies blood and houses the nerve cells for your teeth. This part of the tooth is very vulnerable if it ever becomes exposed due to damaged or decayed teeth. When you get a toothache, the pulp is the part that you can feel hurting, which is why it seems like nothing you due alleviates the pain.

            The pulp itself resides in the pulp chamber, which is a hollow section of your tooth with tunnels the lead to the roots (pointed underside of your teeth). When an infection takes over your tooth, all of the pulp, from the pulp chamber in the center down to the roots can become a haven for bacteria. If the bacteria isn’t stopped soon enough, it can seep into the gums and eventually your jawbone.

            Root Canal Treatment

            Getting a root canal treatment in Houston is a pretty straightforward procedure. It could possibly take several visits, depending on the severity, however. The procedure starts out with an x-ray of the affected tooth. This helps the endodontist determine how far the infection has spread.

            Once the extent has been determined, the endodontist will use a local anesthetic to numb the tooth and the area around it. The nerves inside the pulp are pretty dead by this point, so it’s unlikely you’d feel anything anyway, but the anesthetic minimizes that chance and helps relax you. Next, a small hole is opened up at the top of the tooth.

            The dentist uses a powered file to wear away the damaged pulp and bacteria, cleaning out all the infected areas of the pulp chamber and roots. Using the x-ray images as a guide, your Houston dentist will get rid of all the bacteria she can find within the tooth. Sometimes, an infected section may not show up on the x-ray, and could require a future visit to address, but most times all of the damaged pulp is removed on the first visit.

            Once the pulp has been removed, the tooth is filled with gutta-percha, which is a rubber compound, along with a standard filling of silver, gold, porcelain, or resin. You won’t feel any pain in that tooth anymore, but it’s probably best to wait the recommended time before you begin chewing or biting with that tooth again.