Saving Teeth, Saving Smiles: the Benefits of Root Canals

An infected tooth doesn’t permit you to smile or preserve it if the illness has spread deep within to infect and inflame the dental pulp. In contrast, it makes you cringe with fear every time you try having hot or cold foods or smile because your teeth are sensitive to temperatures and cold air. The condition of your tooth compels you to visit the nearby dentist to receive a suggestion that you need endodontic treatment to eliminate the condition affecting your tooth.

If you don’t know what endodontic treatment means, you will likely jump out of the dentist’s chair because it is the medical term for root canal treatment in Little Italy that helps eradicate infections within your tooth to preserve it with your smile. You may express fear about receiving a root canal but will overcome it after you understand the procedure and how it helps eliminate the existing pain in your tooth to help you preserve it like your remaining teeth.

Understanding the Root Canal Procedure

Unlike the myths about root canals, the reality is entirely different. While root canals are promoted as painful therapies better avoided, the stark reality is that root canal therapy helps eliminate the pain in your tooth without causing any, even when the dentist works in your mouth.

Endodontists performing a root canal are experts in pain management techniques with complete knowledge of making root canals painless from the beginning of the procedure.

After you schedule your endodontic therapy with the Downtown Toronto specialist, they inquire into your medical history and any medications you take to ensure they create a customized treatment plan and provide appropriate anesthetics to ensure your comfort. You will likely arrive at the dentist’s office fully relaxed by the prescription medications they request you to take an hour before your procedure. At the clinic, you are escorted to the dentist’s chair and administered local anesthesia in the mouth to block pain impulses from the affected tooth and gums.

After your tooth and mouth are entirely numb, the dentist drills an access hole in the crown of your tooth or the rear, depending on which tooth needs the therapy. The access hole exposes the inflamed and infected dental pulp allowing the endodontic specialist access to remove it and the nerves before cleaning the canals and disinfecting them.

Root canals in Downtown Toronto, fill and seal the treated tooth using a compatible rubberlike material, gutta-percha, in the canals and close the access hole in the tooth’s crown with a temporary filling. The endodontist requests you restore the tooth with a dental crown after you recover approximately a week after your treatment.

Endodontists complete root canals in 45 to 60 minutes, depending on which tooth needs the therapy. Anterior teeth require minimal time, while the molars with multiple canals require an hour or two appointments with the specialist to eliminate the infection.

Maintaining Good Oral Health after a Root Canal

After enduring an intensive procedure to eliminate the infection in your tooth, you find it beneficial to maintain good oral health, as suggested by the endodontist. However, while you can continue brushing and flossing your remaining teeth, you must remain cautious near the treated tooth and refrain from brushing around it for a day for fear of dislodging the temporary filling.

You will experience discomfort from the therapy after four to six hours of receiving a root canal. However, the pain is from the procedure and not from the infection that earlier existed in your tooth. The endodontist suggests taking painkillers to alleviate the discomfort, besides applying ice packs to your cheeks intermittently at 15-minute intervals. In addition, the specialist recommends not smoking, consuming alcohol, or using mouthwash for rinsing because they are harmful to your treated tooth.

You will find it challenging to have your regular diet of crunchy and hard foods, especially with the treated tooth. Eating on the opposite side of the mouth can encourage food particles to remain trapped near the treated tooth to worsen your experience. Therefore you must rely on soft foods for at least a week until you recover from endodontic treatment.

Root canals are less fearful than getting teeth extracted which is the only alternative if you refuse this therapy. Removing teeth requires replacements costing thousands of dollars, while root canals preserve your natural tooth and your smile at an affordable price. Therefore you must prefer saving teeth and smiles with a root canal instead of refusing or avoiding the treatment.

If you have a painful tooth sensitive to temperatures, Our dentist in Downtown Toronto at Rusholme Family Dentistry suggests getting a root canal to eliminate the pain and the infection in your tooth to preserve it with your smile. Consider getting the treatment from them immediately after understanding the benefits of this tooth-preserving treatment.