Restoring The Root Canal Therapy Reputation

When the dentist informs you that you need a root canal

, you may feel immediate hesitation. Often, many people feel this hesitation due to someone they know who has had an unpleasant experience or they have had a bad experience in the past. In reality, root canal therapy does not cause you pain, rather it relieves your pain. Your dentist recommends root canal therapy in order to eliminate an infection that has spread deep into the roots of your tooth, causing an abscess. If your infection is left untreated, it can cause swelling of the face and head and even bone loss. Saving your tooth is always the best solution, and root canal therapy is an option that can do just that.

What is Endodontics?

Endodontics is the branch of dentistry dealing with diseases of the tooth's pulp. The tooth's pulp is found in the center of the tooth and in canals inside the root of each tooth. Pulp includes connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels, which nourish the tooth when it first emerges through the gum. Once a tooth matures, the pulp can be removed without destroying the tooth because each tooth is also nourished by a blood supply in the gums. Removing the pulp from your tooth is referred to as endodontic treatment, but more commonly "root canal therapy," which is a common procedure that saves approximately 24 million teeth each year in the United States.

All About the Pulp

As previously stated, the pulp is the soft tissue that contains nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. The pulp lies within the tooth and extends from the crown of the tooth to the tip of the root in the bone of the jaws. If the pulp gets diseases or injured, and cannot repair itself, it dies. The most common cause of pulp death is a cracked tooth or a deep cavity. Both of these problems can let bacteria enter the pulp. Bacteria can cause infection inside the tooth, and if left without treatment pus will build up at the root tip, in the jawbone, forming a "pus-pocket" called an abscess, which can cause damage to the bone around the teeth. When the infected pulp is not removed, pain and swelling can result. Certain byproducts of the infection can injure your jawbones, and your tooth may need to be removed.

Root Canal Therapy Basics

Your tooth is made up of a hard protective shell called enamel, a softer middle layer called dentin and a soft tissue inner layer called dental pulp. Composed of nerve tissue, lymph tissue and blood vessels, the dental pulp is considered a vital part of your tooth. If your dental pulp is severely damaged, the tooth begins to die. Root canal therapy is often the best treatment to prevent and eliminate infection, thus preventing tooth loss.

Signs you might need a root canal include:

*Minimal to severe pain

*Tooth discoloration

*Swelling and irritation in the surrounding gum tissue

*Signs of infection visible on a radiograph

Root canal therapy allows dentists to save your teeth in the safest way possible and is used to find the cause and treat the problems of the dental pulp. The narrow channels beneath the pulp chamber in the inner part of your tooth are hollowed out and cleaned through root canal therapy and the roots are filled with materials that are designed to prevent pain and infection from recurring.

Your Naples dentist provides root canal therapy to ensure a positive, gentle, tooth-saving experience for everyone. Remember, delaying treatment for an infected tooth may lead to serious consequences and make treatment more difficult. Keep up-to-date with your regular dental visits to maintain your best smile.

by: Gen Wright

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