Overcoming The Fear Of Root Canals
With the greatest reputation of pain a root canal is one of the many dentist procedures that are dreaded
. However, many people say that it is only about as painful as getting a new filling.
The real fear associated with root canals is often the fact that the procedure it unknown. The name root canal sounds like a very serious procedure.
It is the natural cavity located in the middle of the tooth. The procedure involves removing the nerve and pulp out of the center of the tooth. The pulp is the soft tissue found inside the root canal.
The treatments are necessary to avoid infection in the mouth. When the nerve or pulp is damaged by decay, other dental procedures, a crack/chip on the tooth, or other facial trauma, it becomes infected.
Without treatment the infection can spread and cause more problems such as abscesses. An abscess happens when the infection envelopes the roots of a tooth creating a pus-filled pocket.
Infections may also result in swelling of the face, neck or entire head. There may be loss of bone by the root tips of the tooth and problems with draining.
The procedure repairs the tooth and can save it even if it becomes badly decayed or infected. There are several indications for the need of a root canal.
These include severe tooth pain when chewing, extreme sensitivity to temperatures even after the source of heat or chill has been taken away, or darkening of the tooth. Other indicates include swelling and tenderness, persistent pimples on the gums.
By making regular visits to the dentist they will also be able to detect if there is a problem within the tooth before it is too painful. Dentists are able to perform the root canal procedure, but Endodontists specialize in performing root canal treatments.
Specifically, they study every aspect of the pulp and nerve within a tooth. Surprisingly, the nerve is not essential to the tooth.
The nerve simple functions as an indicator of hot and cold. The tooth can still be healthy and perform daily functions without the nerve.
There are several steps that a dentist will follow with a patient when they enter for a root canal procedure. The first thing that the dentist will do is take an x-ray.
The x-ray will show the shape of the root canal and if there is an infection in the tooth. Technically anesthesia is not needed if the nerve is already dead and decaying.
However, a root canal can be a very stressful process for some patients and anesthesia may be administered anyway to make them feel more at ease. If the nerve is not dead anesthesia will be administered.
Once the anesthesia has taken full effect the dentist will place a rubber dam around the tooth to keep it dry while he or she works on it. Then, the dentist will drill an access hole in the tooth.
The pulp, bacteria, nerve, and anything else in the root canal will be removed through this access hole. Then, the root canal is cleaned out using files, water, and sodium hypochlorite.
If there is an infection in the tooth the dentist may choose not to seal the tooth until a later date. Instead, he or she will place medicine in the tooth with a temporary sealing.
Later, they will replace the temporary sealing with a permanent one. However, if there is no infection the dentist may go ahead and put the permanent seal in place.
Root canals have a very high success rate of 95%. Teeth that have root procedures done to them often last a life time.
Root canal procedures can be fairly costly depending on severity of the problem and which tooth needs to have the procedure done to it. The price ranges anywhere from about $350 to $800 for a regular dentist, while an Endodontist may charge higher than this price range.
by: Tom Selwick
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