Root canal treatment is a dental method of treating infections in the tooth’s center. It is a painless procedure that may save a tooth that must be removed.
With dental advancements and local anaesthetics, most patients experience little to no discomfort throughout a root canal treatment. In reality, living with a rotting tooth is probably more painful. Extraction of the injured tooth, no further treatment, or replacement with a dental implant, bridge, or removable partial denture are all root canal possibilities.
Why It Is Needed
Bacteria dwell in the mouth and penetrate the tooth, causing an infection in the tooth’s center.
It may occur after:
- Teeth damage caused by trauma, such as a fall
- Leaky fillings
- Tooth decay
When Is Root Canal Treatment Necessary?
This treatment is only necessary when dental X-rays reveal pulp damage from bacterial infection. If germs infect the pulp, it will die, allowing the bacteria to spread and grow The pulp infection symptoms are the following:
- A loose tooth
- Pain while drinking or eating cold or hot drinks or food
- Pain when chewing or biting
These symptoms often disappear as the pulp dies. Your tooth seems to have been treated after that. However, the disease has transmitted throughout the system of the root canal. You gradually get other symptoms like:
- Gum swelling around the affected tooth
- Facial swelling
- Pain upon chewing or biting
- Oozing pus from the damaged tooth
- The tooth appears darkening in colour
Infected pulp cannot self-heal. Affecting the affected tooth may make it worse. A root canal is less likely to work if your tooth gets infected. Antibiotics, which treat bacterial infections, do not work on root canal infections.
How Root Canal Treatment Is Done
It would be best to eliminate the bacteria in the root canal to treat the infection. Either may achieve it:
- Extracting the tooth
- Removing the root canal system of bacteria (root canal treatment)
Removing the tooth is typically not advised since preserving as many of your original teeth as possible is preferable. A tooth may survive for up to ten years following root canal therapy in about 9 out of 10 instances.
After the bacteria are extracted, the root canal is filled, and the tooth is covered with a crown or filling – and inflammatory tissues usually recover on their own.
