Root Canal Therapy ~ Relieving Pressure & Restoring Function

Pay Attention to Pain

Your teeth are covered with protective enamel, underneath which is a layer of dentin, surrounding the soft 'pulp' tissue. The pulp contains your tooth's nerves, veins, arteries and lymph vessels'everything required to keep your tooth alive and well. To help facilitate the ongoing activities within the tooth, between one and four 'root canals' or thin divisions branch off from the top of each 'pulp' chamber, down to the tip of the root.

If you have a deep cavity, traumatic injury, or fracture in one of your teeth, bacteria can seep into the pulp area and infect it. This bacteria can either damage or actually kill the pulp, stimulating increased blood flow and cellular activity, thereby building up tremendous pressure within the tooth itself. Unfortunately, this pressure cannot be relieved from inside the tooth, and severe pain is the result. And that's just the beginning: without treatment, the infection will spread, leading to degeneration of the actual surrounding bone, eventual tooth loss, and increased pain. Initially, the pain may occur only when biting, or when taking in hot/cold foods or drinks; untreated, it becomes constant.

At this point, most people seek emergency dental care, but typically it's too late to save the tooth. So, your dentist may end up extracting it. Unfortunately, extraction has its own undesirable side effects: neighboring teeth can migrate into improper, crooked positions, leading to malocclusion or a poor bite. A bad bite in turn puts wear and tear on the entire dentition, leading to further dental problems down the road.

All of this simply points out the necessity of seeing your dentist at the first sign of pain in any of your teeth. It it's early enough in the process, he or she can perform tests on the problem tooth and recommend root canal therapy by an endodontist.

Three Steps to Relief

The words 'root canal' often strike fear into dental patients. However, the process is quite simple, requiring only one to three appointments; local anaesthesia is used throughout to eliminate any pain. After numbing the area, the first step in the procedure is to isolate the problem tooth by placing a rubber sheet around it. Next, your endodontist will drill a gap down from the crown into infected pulp chamber, clear out all diseased pulp, and reshape the inside area. He or she may also insert bacteria-fighting medication. At this point, there are three options, depending on the extent of the problem: either seal the crown temporarily to guard against recontamination, leave it open to drain, or fill the canals.

If you're given a temporary filling, your endodontist will probably remove it at a second visit, then fill the pulp chamber and canal with either a rubber-like substance called gutta percha, or another recontamination prevention material. If your tooth is weak, your endodontist may reinforce it by inserting a metal post above the canal.

Once the cleaned out area is filled, your tooth is permanently sealed. As a last step, your endodontist will typically strengthen the tooth's structure and improve its appearance with a gold or porcelain crown.

Healing & Follow-Up

Root canal treatments are successful over 95 percent of the time. In very rare instances, an overlooked diseased canal offshoot has gone unnoticed, causing the case to be redone. Although you'll typically notice a bit of tissue inflammation-related discomfort for a few days, you'll find it's controllable with over-the-counter analgesics. Your endodontist will schedule a follow-up exam to monitor tissue healing. Finally, over the long run, you'll want to avoid chewing on hard foods on that tooth'and of course, see your dentist regularly.

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