If you have recently been informed that you need a root canal in Oshawa, you may be wondering what’s involved and if the treatment will be painful.
The short answer is that dental care should never be painful. At Margolian Dentistry, we take extensive care to ensure that every patient feels relaxed, comfortable, and pain-free during any procedure. A root canal is an excellent treatment that can save a severely infected and damaged tooth from being removed.
Why Is a Root Canal Necessary?
Our dentist may recommend root canal therapy in Whitby if you have a tooth that is infected, inflamed, or where the dental pulp has become exposed, perhaps due to trauma.
The dental pulp is a collection of soft tissues including the tooth nerve, connective tissues and blood vessels, and is right in the centre of your tooth. It is surrounded by dentin, a harder material made of tiny tubules tightly packed together. Dentin is protected by tooth enamel.
Although tooth enamel is very hard, it can become damaged through decay or trauma, allowing bacteria to penetrate the dentin and eventually reach the dental pulp. Once this occurs, the tooth nerve can start to hurt, and the dental pulp becomes inflamed.
The solution is to remove the dental pulp and soft tissues that extend into the root canals in the tooth roots. Removing the dental pulp enables a dentist to disinfect the tooth and permanently seal it before fully restoring it, typically by covering the tooth with a dental crown.
What to Expect If You Have Root Canal Therapy?
Before your treatment begins, we thoroughly numb the tooth, blocking any unwanted sensations during the procedure. Once your tooth is numb, our dentist will gently expose the dental pulp before carefully removing all the soft tissues and shaping the root canals using special dental files.
We use microscopic dentistry in Ajax during this type of procedure to ensure that all soft tissue is removed thoroughly before disinfecting the tooth, which helps eliminate any remaining bacteria. At this stage, we may seal the tooth temporarily, and could even insert antibiotics topically into the tooth to treat a severe infection.
You will need a follow-up appointment so we can permanently restore the tooth, sealing it with a material called gutta-percha, and fabricate a custom-made crown to fit over the tooth.
Usually, a crown is necessary because the infected tooth has typically lost a significant portion of its structure due to decay or trauma.
Using Advanced Technologies to Create Your New Crown
To fabricate your crown, we take a digital dental impression, a process that is more comfortable than the traditional tray impression.
The impression is used to plan and fabricate your new crown. We may use our on-site milling machine in Whitby to create your new crown in just a few hours.
The crown is designed digitally before it is created from a solid block of pre-coloured porcelain. These crowns are precision-made, ensuring they fit precisely and seal the tooth underneath, providing excellent protection, aesthetics and comfort.
What Are the Advantages of Root Canal Therapy?
After root canal therapy, your tooth will immediately feel more comfortable; however, it may take several days for the tooth to settle fully. Once restored, you will be able to bite and chew comfortably, and a retreated tooth can last for years or even a lifetime with the right aftercare.
Do you have a tooth that aches or doesn’t feel right? Contact us to book your appointment. The sooner we can treat infected teeth, the more successful the outcome, and we can get rid of nasty dental pain.
