Root Canal Therapy in Durham

Root canals are the hollow channels reaching from the central chamber to the bottom of the tooth roots. If you suffer from tooth pain or have a deep cavity, your dentist may determine that a root canal procedure is necessary.

Root Canal Symptoms and Treatment

Your dentist will first take x-rays to find out how close the damage is to the nerve inside the pulp chamber of the tooth. Often, if a cavity is found to be near the pulp, the pulp will have already become infected. In this case a root canal procedure will eliminate the pain and remove any infected tissue.

Root canal treatment starts by cleaning out damaged areas of the tooth. This is generally performed under local anesthetic, so the root canal procedure is generally no more uncomfortable than getting a filling. Once your dentist has breached the pulp chamber, further anesthetic may be injected directly into the nerve of the tooth. This effectively deadens any further pain.

Your dentist removes the tissue within the pulp chamber and clears any remaining nerve tissue from the root canals. Once the dental pulp tissue has been cleared, the dentist widens the root canal slightly and straightens the pulp chamber to prepare it for filling. The inside of the tooth is then disinfected.

When the tooth has been properly prepared, Your dentist fills the root canals with a rubber-like material called gutta-percha filling. The pulp chamber is packed with cotton, and a temporary filling is used to seal the opening. During a succeeding visit, your endodontist removes the temporary filling, fills the pulp chamber with a core buildup, and then repairs the tooth with a filling or crown. During this visit, your dentist will also check for root canal procedure complications such as infection.

Post-Procedure Information

Root canal procedures have earned a misleading reputation for pain. The reality is that in most cases the pain after a root canal treatment is less than the throbbing that you would experience by leaving damaged root canals untreated.

If you are concerned about post-surgery pain, discuss your fears regarding root canal surgery prior to treatment at our Ajax dental office. There are a variety of sedation dentistry methods that can be used to make your experience more comfortable and stress-free.