Important Things You Should Know about Endodontics

Are you hesitant about losing your natural tooth because it is infected? Tooth infections are the reason why many people have lost their natural teeth. In some cases, removing damaged teeth is the only approach to maintaining good oral health. However, some alternatives can help you treat your infection without having to lose your tooth.

Endodontics exists in dentistry to offer this solution to patients. Instead of always resolving your tooth infections with an extraction procedure, you can opt for endodontic treatments.

What Is Endodontics?

It is a specialty of dentistry that is concerned with treating the insides of a tooth to save it. Ideally, when a tooth is diseased, options for treating it involve permanent tooth extraction. Instead of losing your tooth due to an infection, endodontics near you focuses on saving your natural tooth.

Treating the insides of a tooth, however, is an intricate procedure. The goal is not just to remove the infection from your tooth, but also to preserve the structure of your tooth so that it remains intact in the long haul.

How Does Endodontics Work?

Since the goal of endodontics is to save a tooth by treating it from the inside, one would question how that works. Ideally, a tooth gets nourished by the soft tissues inside of it. These tissues are responsible for the development of a tooth. However, once a tooth is fully matured, it can remain healthy without the soft tissues inside.

Therefore, when an endodontic procedure is performed on your adult tooth, it is not in harm’s way because the soft tissues are removed. The tooth will continue to be fully nourished by the surrounding tissues as long as it remains attached to your jawbone.

What Do Endodontic Procedures Entail?

For the most part, endodontics in Caledon, ON are concerned with performing typical root canal procedures. In that case, the steps involved in the procedure include:

1. Numbing – local anesthesia helps numb your mouth to ensure you are comfortable during the treatment. This is what makes the treatment virtually painless.

2. Drilling – is a step that helps make a hole in your tooth. The hollow created is big enough to allow an endodontic specialist to use particular tools to treat the insides of your diseased tooth.

3. Cleaning – using special endodontic tools, a Caledon dentist for root canal treatment will clean the insides of your mouth. The tools used will suck out any bacteria and infected tissues in your tooth. This suction will also remove damaged nerve endings, blood vessels, connective tissues, and other soft tissues in your tooth.

4. Shaping and filling – once the tooth is cleaned out thoroughly, your dentist will shape it appropriately to put in a filling. This will help maintain the structure of your tooth.

5. Sealing and finishing – this step involves sealing your tooth in such a way as to prevent re-infection in the future. A dentist will use a dental crown to finish off the procedure. The crown covers the tooth to protect it and reinforce its strength.

Is Surgery Necessary?

In endodontics, not pall procedures play out as they should. Some teeth can be severely infected, necessitating more invasive measures as treatment. Usually, this may involve temporarily extracting the diseased tooth. Removing it will give your endodontist full access to the internal parts of your tooth. This allows for treatment of the roots of your teeth, including abscessed teeth. Afterward, however, your endodontist restores your tooth.

Although this approach is a lot more invasive than a typical root canal procedure, it is necessary for you if you want to save your tooth. Besides, as long as the procedure is performed by an endodontic specialist, then you can rest assured that it will be successful.

What To Expect After Treatment

Once your procedure is complete, there are a few things you should expect:

1. Numbness – will last for a few minutes after the procedure. It can take up to an hour or more before the anesthesia fully wears off.

2. Soreness – once you can feel your mouth again, expect some soreness in the area of treatment. Over-the-counter medicine can help manage the discomfort.

3. Tooth sensitivity – your tooth may be slightly sensitive to hot and cold foods, more so within the first few days after treatment.