Root Canals in Greenwood, IN - Center Grove Family Dentistry
When Is Root Canal Therapy Needed?
When a cavity is left untreated, it can completely eat the inside of the tooth, making it hard to do normal activities like biting and chewing your food. In cases like this, it’s important to restore your tooth with root canal therapy. Dr. Hector Naranjo at Evolution Dentistry in Parkland, FL, can help you understand when root canal therapy is necessary to help restore your smile both aesthetically and functionally.
How Root Canal Therapy Can Help You
When a tooth is infected from an untreated cavity, it can lead to more serious issues that can affect both your smile and can even affect your body as a whole. Your dentist in Parkland, FL, can examine your tooth and help you determine if a root canal is the right choice to help your smile and strengthen your tooth again.
A root canal is usually thought of as something that is painful and scary, but it’s actually the complete opposite. Root canal therapy helps relieve your pain and strengthen your smile when you’re dealing with infection and irritation.
Your dentist will first numb the affected area to help keep you feeling comfortable throughout the entire process. Your dentist will then create an opening in the top of your tooth to expose the damaged and irritated pulp inside of your tooth. They will then clean out the infected pulp, helping to relieve your tooth of pain. Your dentist will then fill your tooth with a rubber-like material, helping protect your tooth from any further infection or damage from happening inside the tooth. They will then seal the tooth, which will stop bacteria from getting inside your newly restored tooth.
Root Canal Benefits
A root canal is primarily beneficial because it eliminates the pain that you may be experiencing from a toothache. Other benefits include:
- The tooth is thoroughly cleaned and filled to protect the root from future damage.
- The crown covering is very attractive (white, smooth, and resilient) and will last for up to 20 years with good care.
- It helps stop an infection from spreading to other teeth or other parts of the body.
- You keep your original tooth and do not have to pay for an expensive replacement.
How the Procedure Is Completed
An average root canal procedure takes up to a couple of hours. In an advanced case, it may require more than one appointment, but that’s rare. The area is numbed for your comfort so that the dentist can access the diseased tissue with dental tools. After the bad tissue is removed and the inside of the tooth is disinfected, a filling material is added. In a follow-up appointment, a permanent crown will be placed to protect the tooth.
Top 5 Benefits of Root Canals
Need root canal treatment? Millions of teeth are saved each year with root canal therapy. Center Grove Family Dentistry in Greenwood, IN offers offers root canal therapy with a gentle touch. Here are the top five benefits of root canals.
1. It Will Relieve Your Pain
The most common symptom that may indicate the need for root canal treatment is a toothache. The pain may affect your ability to enjoy a good night's sleep. Root canal treatment will alleviate your tooth pain and improve your well-being.
2. It Is Virtually Pain Free
Root canals are nothing to be afraid of. People fear root canal treatments because they assume they are painful. Local anesthesia is very effective in blocking pain during a root canal procedure. Most patients report that the procedure itself is no more painful than having a dental filling placed.
3. It Prevents Tooth Loss
In the past, diseased or injured teeth had to be removed. Today, they can usually be saved through root canal treatment. Without treatment, the tooth may have to be extracted. Saving your natural tooth is the best option.
4. It Restores Tooth Function
Because a tooth that needs root canal treatment often is one that has extensive decay, a permanent crown often needs to be placed on the tooth to strengthen it and restore it to full function. A crown can improve your speech and help you chew better.
5. It Has a High Success Rate
Root canal treatment has a high success rate. According to the American Association of Endodontists, endodontic treatments have a success rate of 99.3 percent. If you take good care of it, your restored tooth could last a lifetime.