Do You Need a Root Canal?
Don’t worry, root canal treatment gets a bad rap!
Picture this: You are going about your daily routine, and suddenly you feel a slight pain in your tooth when biting down. It steadily gets worse throughout the day, and by that evening, it’s throbbing, painful, and a full-blown toothache. “Oh no,” you think, “will I need a root canal?”
Over the years, “root canal” has come to mean the very worst that life can deal you. (Right up there with an IRS audit or a trip to the DMV.) However, to those suffering from an excruciating toothache, this procedure may be the next best thing to winning the lottery.
If a tooth gets chipped, cracked, or decayed, an infection can move in, invading the tooth and even bone. This hurts. Root canal treatment can stop the hurt. We’ll administer a local anesthetic, remove the damaged pulp, clean and enlarge the canal, and seal it temporarily to prevent further infection. We may prescribe antibiotics for more protection. On your next visit, we’ll fill the tooth and seal it. Then, we’ll probably want you back one final time to ensure the bone has healed and there’s no further trouble.
Who needs it? See us if you have:
- Severe toothache
- Teeth sensitive to heat and cold
- Pain when biting down
- Spontaneous or prolonged pain
- Enlarged area draining along the gumline
If you’re lucky, you’ll experience one or more symptoms before much damage occurs. If you’re smart, you have regular dental checkups to catch the small problems before they become big ones. Contact us today to schedule an appointment!
