Targeting the Root of the Problem

Root canal treatments are often one of the most feared dental procedures. However, as technology and medical practices have advanced, they have become more commonplace and less painful.

What is a Root Canal Treatment?

A root canal treatment is a procedure that is performed by a Houston dentist. It involves entering a tooth, usually from the top of the crown, and removing infected or decayed dental pulp from inside the tooth.

After the damaged pulp is removed, the tooth is filled with gutta percha and a standard filling to strengthen it.

Sounds simple like that, doesn’t it? It really is!

A root canal treatment is designed to relieve pain, not cause it. Dentists of long ago did not have the sophisticated technology we have now, and they had limited access to anesthetics, which are important to maintaining a pain free experience.

How Is a Root Canal Treatment Performed?

When you first come in for a root canal treatment at a Houston dentist, the first thing that will be done is you will have x-ray images taken.

These images will help the dentist visualize the inside of a tooth needing the procedure. It will show the areas of decayed dental pulp, giving a sort of road map to follow.

Next, you will receive sedation dentistry to make your experience as painless as possible. It can also make it seem like the procedure goes by much faster.

After the x-rays are completed and the dentist is prepared for the procedure, they will drill into the top of the tooth.

Upon reaching the pulp chamber of the tooth, which contains dental pulp, the tissue that provides feeling and blood for the tooth, they will begin clearing out the infection.

Many times, the pulp chamber will be cleared out completely, as this area becomes completely infected, which is partially why your tooth hurts before a procedure.

After this chamber is cleared out, the dentist will use the x-rays as a guide to find each root canal that is filled with decayed pulp.

These canals extend from the pulp chamber down the roots of your teeth and into the gums where they connect with the rest of your circulatory system.

At the base of a tooth root, the infection may have caused an abscess to form. This can be the other reason why your tooth is hurting.

The abscess is a pocket of infected tissue that causes swelling and inflammation to occur around it.

Once the abscess is cleared away, your teeth will stop hurting.

After all of this is complete, the dentist will fill the root canals and pulp chamber with gutta percha to protect them, then fill the crown of the tooth with a standard filling.

Dental fillings are important to maintain the strength of the tooth. A hollow tooth would break very easily.

Does the Dentist Always Take Everything Out?

When using the x-rays, the dentist will look for canals that still have healthy pulp and preserve those. Sometimes in trying to preserve healthy pulp, they might miss a small section of infected pulp, which can require a root canal retreatment.

A retreatment works the same way as the initial treatment, but it only seeks to carefully remove the sections that were missed.

Retreatments are very uncommon, as the panoramic x-rays often detect all the canals needing treatment. With their keen eye, your Houston dentist will do all that they can to ensure all of the decayed pulp is removed to prevent a need to return.