A root canal is a common dental treatment used by a dentist to remove infection from inside a tooth, before sealing the tooth to preserve its structure. Contrary to popular belief, root canal treatment is no more painful that getting a filling, and the success rate of root canal treatments is high.
A tooth’s root canal system holds the tooth’s pulp – the soft tissue at the center of the tooth – and extends the full length of the tooth, from the crown to the root, where it affixes to the jaw. A tooth can have one or several root canal systems. [pullquote]A root canal is a common dental treatment used by a dentist to remove infection from inside a tooth, before sealing the tooth to preserve its structure.[/pullquote]
Cavities in the teeth allow bacteria to enter the tooth, where it begins to attack and infect the pulp. The pulp begins to die, multiplying the bacteria, which then spreads throughout the tooth and can enter the patient’s gum tissue and jaw bone, potentially affecting other teeth. The result can be severe pain, and dental abscesses may form, as well as the degradation of the jaw bone around the tooth.
In root canal treatment, a dentist treats the cause of the infection by accessing and removing the tooth’s diseased pulp from the root canals. Once the diseased pulp has been removed, the dentist will then use antiseptics to clean the tooth and kill off any lingering bacteria before sealing the root canals with a rubbery compound called gutta-percha. To finish off, the dentist often applies a dental crown in order to conceal the filling and for added strength.
After the treatment, the patient should suffer no further ill-effects, while the retention of the tooth helps to preserve the patient’s natural bite alignment and strength, whereas an extraction may see either or both affected by changes in the tooth’s structure, unless dental reconstruction occurs, such as through dental implants. As such, root canal treatments are hugely successful in not only dealing with the cause of the infection, but also in the preservation of the patient’s bite.
What’s more, the expected lifespan of a tooth that has undergone root canal treatment can run to many years, and in some cases a lifetime.
To learn more about root canal treatment in Barrie ON, contact our professional team at Georgian Dental. Call 1-888-739-2975 to schedule your informative consultation today.