For patients who are afraid of visiting a dentist, there’s nothing that sounds scarier than a root canal. Root canal therapies have earned quite a bad reputation and perhaps unfairly because they treat teeth that are poorly decayed or infected.
By the time someone needs root canal therapy in Livermore, the chances are they’re already undergoing extreme pain, which can intensify the post-op recovery. But is this the actual case?
Though, root canals are smile-saving therapies. Like any dental procedure, a root canal restores your strong and healthy teeth. A root canal is one last stop before a tooth extraction: the last alternative when infected or decayed teeth are beyond recovery using other less invasive treatments. Instead, a root canal saves these contaminated teeth from total decay and extraction, enabling you to preserve them and your healthy smile.
Why Root Canal & What It Does?
A root canal therapy is for badly decayed or infected teeth, where the nerves and pulps have become irritated and inflamed. This happens due to extreme tooth decay, reprised dental procedures, extensive fillings, and cracks or chips in the tooth after trauma to the face.
A root canal is needed to control decay or infection from driving an abscess which is a pus-filled pocket to develop. When this occurs, the damage has spread beyond the ends of the roots of a tooth and can drive severe harm.
How a Root Canal is Performed?
This treatment involves cleansing the infected pulp, then removing the damaged nerve tissue to contain bacteria from breeding within the chamber. Once done, the area gets sealed to evade further infection and control an abscess from forming. It also preserves the remaining healthy tissue wrapping the affected tooth.
While root canals concern removing the infected nerve, this doesn’t diminish the quality of life. The nerves in teeth do not instantly affect their health and function; these are only sensorial.
What a Root Canal Treatment Prevents?
A root canal prevents swelling that can extend to the other parts of the mouth and the face, neck, and head. When left untreated, this infection can also result in bone loss at the spike of the tooth’s root. It can also generate drainage issues that cause a hole to form on the sides of the tooth and grow into the gums or even through the cheek and skin.
What to Expect During Root Canal Treatment?
A root canal can be concluded in 3 steps. Our dentist in Livermore will instruct you to return for 1-3 sessions. Forst the dentist will start with cleaning the root canal using a sterilized tool to extract the dirt and residue found inside the root canal. The dentist also administers anesthesia and drills a little hole in the tooth surface. It will make it easier to extract the damaged pulp tissue. Once this is over, the Livermore dentist will decontaminate and shape the hollowed portion. It will then get filled with a rubbery material and the hole is sealed using adhesive cement.
Once the therapy is over, you will no longer feel pain in the impacted tooth since the nerve has already been cured & the infection was removed. However, your teeth will still be delicate since your tooth will not acquire the necessary nourishment. To handle this case, a dental filling or crown is needed.
Is Root Canal Treatment Painful?
Most of us want to learn how painful a root canal is before we conclude. If the whole treatment is performed by an expert and trained dentist in Livermore, you can expect it to be painless. The pain you will feel is due to the infection, not the root canal procedure. Local anesthesia will be used to make the treatment as comfortable as possible.
Finally, you should not be tense about the expenses once you choose to go through the procedure for a root canal in Livermore. We believe saving a tooth is still more cost-efficient than extracting it. Contact us today to book your oral examination at our dental office in Livermore.