Root Canal

Root canal may be one of the most feared and least understood treatments in dentistry.

What is a dental infection?

When decay (ie. Bacteria) make their way through the outer enamel of the tooth, and then through the inner dentine of the tooth, they begin to get close to the nerve. Once they pentrate the inner pulp chamber of the tooth, they cause the nerve tissue and blood vessels to become inflamed and infected. The same way that once the appendix becomes infected, the only way to treat it is to remove it, so to with the tooth. Once the decay reaches the nerve, the only treatment is a root canal.


What is the treatment?

Very simply put, the infected tissue is removed, the canals are cleaned and sterilized and the hollow spaces that remain are totally filled, preventing bacteria from regrowing there. Is it painful? Like all dental treatments, if the tooth is properly anesthetized, the actual treatment should be painless. In some severe cases, it might be tough to get the nerve 100% numb, but in those cases, we usually put the patient on antibiotics and let the situation calm down and only then treat it painlessly. How much time does it take? We try to do the root canals in one visit, however, if the tooth is paiful to begin with it is often in your best interest to do it in 2 visits. It usually prevents post operative discomfort.