Root Canal Procedures: Here’s All You Need to Know

An infected or damaged tooth can give you sleepless nights. The pain can be debilitating, and you will no longer enjoy your meals. If you don’t get your tooth checked by our dentist near you, you risk losing your teeth.

There’s nothing that comes close to having your natural teeth. This is why our dentist endeavors to offer root canals in Brooklyn, NY, to ensure that an inflamed or infected tooth is preserved. Instead of buying time and waiting for the inevitable to happen, getting root canal treatment in Brooklyn would ensure that your oral health is restored.

About the Root Canal Procedure

For some reason, people associate the root canal procedure with pain. On the contrary, root canal treatment in Brooklyn alleviates pain. It is performed to save a tooth that has an infected or inflamed pulp. The infection or inflammation usually happens because of trauma or a deep cavity.

The dental pulp lies at the core of the tooth and is protected by the enamel. The pulp nourishes the tooth since it contains connective tissue, blood vessels, and nerves.

Root canal treatment is the best procedure when you need to treat irreversible pulpitis. Pulpitis is a condition where the pulp is inflamed. The condition can be reversible or irreversible. It becomes irreversible when the infection has spread, and the nerve tissue has died.

Always know that your tooth is already infected and dying by the time you need a root canal. So, some people may refer to root canal treatment as “mummifying” a dead tooth.

Preserving the tooth benefits your oral health since it won’t affect your bite. Therefore, the function of the tooth will be restored.

Root canal procedures can also be referred to as:

• Root canal treatment
• Root canals
• Root canal therapy
• Endodontic treatment

What Are the Indicators That You Need Root Canal Therapy?

Good oral hygiene may increase your chances of reversing pulpitis. But if the infection is not caught early, you might experience the following:

• Bump on the gum (fistula): This is a red, yellow, or white pimple-like bump that appears on the gum. This occurs when blood, pus, and bacteria are accumulated at one spot since the body is trying to “vent” them.
• Tooth pain: Toothaches are tricky since any number of issues can cause your tooth to ache. However, watch out for persistent pain or pain that comes and goes. Also, lingering pain after consuming hot or cold foods can be a sign of pulpitis.
• Deep cavity
• Swollen gums
• Tooth abscess: This is a pus-filled infectious area that is beneath the tooth root.
• Color change of the gum or tooth: A dead or a dying tooth will change from white to grayish over some time. Also, the gums around the affected tooth may darken

If you peel your eyes for the above and respond promptly, you may have the chance of preserving your tooth and eliminating the infection.

How Is It Carried Out?

A typical procedure will require at least two dental visits. Each visit will last approximately 90 minutes or less. Root canal treatment will be carried out as follows:

• Examination. Our dentist will take some x-rays to check the state of your teeth. Also, a physical exam will be carried out.
• Numbing. The area adjacent to the infected tooth will be numbed to ensure that the procedure is painless. Sedation is required when you have dental anxiety, but other than that, local anesthesia should work just fine.
• Rubber dam. This is a latex sheet that our dentist will place over your mouth to prevent bacteria from the other part of your mouth from entering the infected tooth. It also prevents you from swallowing the medication used to clean the infected tooth
• Opening. Our dentist will use a drill to gain access to the pulp chamber
• Cleaning and shaping. Next, our dentist will use refined files and drills to remove the inflamed and infected pulp. Then, the tooth will be shaped.
• Irrigation. Our dentist will flood the pulp chamber with water and an antibacterial agent to remove any bacteria. Then, chambers will be dried.
• Filling. The tooth will be sealed to ensure that it won’t be infected again. A biocompatible material known as the gutta-percha is used to fill the tooth.

When our dentist removes the pulp, the tooth will become weak. Therefore, encasing it with a crown would be the best thing to do. However, you are still at liberty to get a dental filling.

In any case, undergoing root canals in Brooklyn, NY, will preserve your natural tooth. Therefore, contact us at New Leaf Dental to schedule an appointment.