Of all the most feared dental procedures none is so iconic as the root canal. The obvious reason behind this is the presence of the dentist’s drill. But is the root canal treatment really that bad? Well, put simply, not really. In fact root canal treatments are often some of the most important procedures in dentistry, that can make the difference between keeping and losing a tooth. Ask anybody who has suffered the pain of a toothache or tooth abscess and been given some relief by a root canal and they would probably tell you the same.

A dentist will use a root canal when a cavity has extended to the point it has broken through to the root of the tooth. This then becomes infected and the infection gradually eats away the pulp and attacks the nerve. These nerves can be incredibly sensitive and the source of some of the nastiest toothaches. The dentist needs to get inside the tooth and remove all the infected material and depending on the state of the nerve, possibly remove that as well. If the infection has killed the root, the tooth may no longer hurt but the infection is still capable of spreading to other teeth and even entering the bloodstream.

The dentist uses the famous drill to penetrate to the root of the tooth. They will then extract any infected mater before filling the cavity with medicine to destroy any residual infection. The root canal will then be filled and possibly crowned to preserve the structural integrity of the tooth. The whole of the root canal will take place under a local anaesthetic so there is no reason why it should be any more painful than any other dental procedure.

After the surgery the patient may feel some numbness or pain for a few days but this will usually pass and can be controlled with over-the-counter pain relief. The bad reputation of a root canal is perhaps more associated with the pain that precedes it than the operation itself. A root canal could bring an end to some very unpleasant sensations and still leave you with your own tooth at the end of it. Credit where credit is due.

If you are suffering from a toothache, or have been recently, make an appointment with a London dentist as soon as possible and a root canal could offer you the relief you’ve been looking for.

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Root canal treatment (or therapy) in London is performed when dental caries (tooth decay) extends in very close proximity and/or into to pulp of the tooth. The pulp of the tooth is composed of nerves, a blood supply, connective tissue, etc., and when the bacteria or their end-products come into contact with these, the tooth begins to die and the result is usually pain, bone loss, tooth loss, loss of attachment of the tooth to the bone, or combinations of these aforementioned events. During a root canal procedure, the dentist or endodontist (i.e., root canal specialist) will anesthetize the tooth or area of the mouth involved, will place a rubber dam to isolate the area, and will then drill an access opening through the enamel and dentin, and into the pulp tissue. The pulp and other infected areas (i.e., the tooth dentin) are then removed from the root canal chamber and the tooth roots using drills and hand files, and then these areas of the tooth are sterilized using chemical solutions. The inside of the tooth is then thoroughly dried using paper points, and root canal filling material is then placed inside the roots and chamber to keep bacteria from penetrating into the tooth pulp. This also prevents the spread of the infection to adjacent teeth. Usually an antibiotic is prescribed, and the infection is neutralized and healing begins. The toothache is usually relieved within twenty four hours, and at time pain medication may be required. Since the tooth is now dried out, more brittle, and broken down quite a bit, a crown is placed on the tooth.

Does getting a root canal sound really painful to you? Do you think you really need it? Why do you need it? Let’s take a look at a few commonly asked questions on root canals. What is a root canal and do I really need one?
Each tooth contains a sensitive living center called as a nerve. When your decay has finished burrowing through the entire tooth it then reaches the sensitive central living tissue and then starts irritating it. Ultimately due to the constant irritants the nerve just dies and rots away. The dead nerve and pus accumulate inside the tooth and generally cause flare ups every month with severe swelling and pain. In a root canal procedure the dentist will excavate the entire dead nerve, pus and leaves behind a hollow sterile pipe of the tooth. He then strengthens this hollow dead structure with a central filling of a really hard material and covers it with a cap to protect it.

What are the signs of needing endodontic treatment or a root canal?
When the decay reaches the central nerve of the tooth, you will experience severe pain swellings, sensitivity to heat or cold, discoloration of the tooth, etc

Does a root canal save a tooth?
Definitely, a retained tooth is much better than losing your natural tooth. After the root canal procedure the tooth does become really brittle so you have to be slightly careful on eating hard and sticky food. Otherwise a well-done root canal lasts for a really long, long, time.

I can recall the feelings of my patients at the utterance of the root canal. They would be just horrified and I guess if they were given a choice of run or stay, they would be running away without any exception. However, if the dentists are more competent, half of the root canal treatments can be avoided and instead a pulp capping would suffice.

Whether or not tooth decay warrants a root canal is sometimes puzzling to even a competent dentist; however, if the dentist can carefully drill and see through the depth of the decay, he would find the nerve alive and in that case he opts out of RCT. If it’s dead a root canal is warranted though. A filling or pulp cap is enough to fix the problem when the nerve is intact.

Pulp cap is a dental procedure wherein the dentist drills and goes to nerve level when removing decay. The exposed nerve, which can be regarded as pulp, would then be capped or covered after the decay has been removed and cleaned from the cavity. The procedure is regarded as a conservative treatment and the cavity would be filled with bonded composite technique and there is no calcium hydroxide layer unlike in the earlier days. The success rate of this procedure is high as well as the treatment also lasts for long time period. If the patient is rightly picked for the procedure, it’s almost successful.

By pulp capping your dentist is trying to keep the decayed tooth alive besides avoiding a need for the much-painful ouchie root-canal treatment. Pulp capping has been an old procedure, however, newer techniques and materials are evolving to make a person more comfortable.