Understanding the Root Canal Procedure: How It Saves Your Tooth

For many, simply hearing the phrase “root canal” can fill them with dread. However, root canals have an undeserved bad reputation. Many decades ago, dentistry lacked adequate anesthetics and techniques, but modern dentistry has changed all of that. If you need to have a root canal procedure to save your tooth, you don’t need to be fearful or feel dread. Let’s learn more about the root canal procedure and what you can expect.

Understanding Root Canals

A root canal is a dental procedure that saves a tooth that might otherwise need to be removed. Inside a tooth’s root lies soft tissue called pulp, which contains nerves and blood vessels. When this pulp becomes infected, it can lead to severe pain. The root canal procedure involves removing the decay and bacteria from the tooth’s root canals, effectively cleaning out the infected area to preserve the tooth’s health and structure.

How to Know if You Need a Root Canal

Only your dentist can fully determine whether or not you need a root canal. They will usually take x-rays to examine the inside of the tooth and identify the exact issue. However, there are some symptoms you can watch for that will help you know when you need to seek dental care for a possible root canal.

• Sensitive to cold or hot foods and beverages.
• Severe tooth pain.
• Gums are tender, inflamed, or swollen around the sore tooth.
• Tooth discoloration.

Root Canals Are Virtually Painless

Each year, dentists in the U.S. perform more than 15 million root canals. The good news is that today’s root canals are almost always virtually painless. Many patients have said that a root canal is comparable to a dental filling for a cavity. Before root canal therapy, the dentist will numb the area around the tooth with local anesthesia.

Your Root Canal: What to Expect

When your dentist does a root canal procedure, the decay inside the infected tooth is cleaned out. In most cases, this procedure is done to save the tooth. Here’s what happens during a root canal:

• Your dentist drills a small hole through the tooth’s enamel, allowing them to access the inside.
• Bacteria and decay are extracted from the nerves, pulp, and root to remove the infected tissue.
• After removing the pulp, the tooth is cleaned and disinfected, including the pulp chamber and root canals.
• The empty root canals are filled with a dental material called gutta-perch, so the tooth is more stable structurally. This will also help to prevent re-infection.
• The tooth is then sealed to keep bacteria from getting into the tooth.

Relief in a Couple of Hours

Root canals are usually performed in just one dental visit. The entire root canal procedure takes anywhere between 60 to 90 minutes.

Dental Root Canal Procedure in San Diego, California

Drs. Julie and Joseph Boulos and the team at All Coast Dental in San Diego, California, are here to help you save your tooth with a comfortable and pain-free root canal procedure. Call us today at (858) 264-3002 or use our online form to request an appointment.