What is Root Canal?

Prior to recent advances in medicine, damage to the core of a tooth usually meant its quick removal. The modern solution is a root canal, known in the medical community as endodontic treatment. This procedure usually involves several trips to the dentist and is performed in the dentist's chair. A root canal procedure cleans, disinfects, and refills the interior of the tooth, thereby preventing serious pain and permanent damage to decayed teeth.

A root canal is usually performed on a cracked tooth or a tooth with a deep interior cavity.

If a root canal is not performed, bacteria is able to enter the core of the tooth (the pulp) and cause decay of the nerve, tissue, and blood vessels in the tooth's canal.If left untreated, the diseased tooth may become extremely sensitive to heat and cold, may throb, or even cause infection in the jawbone (an abscess).

The Root Canal Procedure

During the surgical portion of a root canal, the decayed tooth is first anesthetized. A hole is made through the crown of the tooth, down into the pulp. Dr. Edderai uses tiny metal instruments to extract the remaining pulp from the tooth, and thoroughly cleans and disinfects the canal. If the tooth canal is twisted, Dr. Edderai may have to enter the tooth through the gums to remove the difficult-to-reach pulp. Once cleaned out, the canal is re-shaped to allow Dr. Edderai to easily and completely fill the interior of the tooth. The canal is filled with a rubberized inert material that helps prevent future infection. A temporary seal protects the tooth until the patient can return to our office.

On your follow-up visit, the temporary sealing is removed and a post core procedure to rebuild the anatomical structure of the tooth is administred, to serve as the supporting structure for a permanent prosthetic crown. After that, the dental crown is fitted on the tooth to permanently seal it. Through these procedures we are able to provide the best available long term solution to the injured tooth. At Dr. Edderai's office, all these can be prepared and completed during one visit.