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Inside
your tooth's hard outer shell is a nourishing pulp of blood vessels,
lymph vessels and nerves. The root's canal, allow these vessels and
nerves to extend to connect to the rest of the body's systems. Deep
tooth decay, or injury can cause serious damage and infection to the
pulps nerves and vessels. Root canal, also known as endodontic
treatment, cleans out the infected pulp chamber and canals and replaces
the organic material with an inert filling.
Some indications of the need for root canal treatment may be:
- Spontaneous pain or throbbing
- Pain while biting or chewing
- Sensitivity to hot and cold
- Severe decay or injury that causes an
abscess (infection) in the bone surrounding the tooth
Because the tooth will not heal by itself. Without
treatment, infection will spread, bone around the tooth will begin to
degenerate, and the tooth may fall out. Pain usually worsens until one
is forced to seek emergency dental attention. The only alternative is
usually extraction of the tooth, which can cause surrounding teeth to
shift crookedly, resulting in a bad bite. Though an extraction is
cheaper, the space left behind will require an implant or a bridge,
which can be more expensive than root canal therapy. If you have the
choice, it's always best to keep your original teeth.
Treatment usually involves one to three appointments. First, you will
probably be given a local anesthetic to numb the area. A gap is drilled
from the top of the tooth into the pulp chamber, which, along with any
infected root canal, is cleaned of all diseased pulp and reshaped.
Medication is inserted into the area to fight bacteria and a temporary
filling is placed. Depending on the size and number of canals, a second
appointment of cleaning and enlarging of the canals may be needed.
On the last visit the pulp chamber and canals are filled with rubber
like
material called Gutta Percha. If the tooth is weak, a metal post may be
inserted above the canal filling to reinforce the tooth. Finally, a gold
or porcelain crown is normally placed over the tooth to strengthen its
structure and improve appearance.
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