Root Canal

A root canal is often needed as a result of an abscessed tooth that is infected. When a tooth is infected, it is inside the soft center tissue where the nerve has died, due to severe trauma or decay of the tooth.  When a patient has severe toothache or pain or toothache, the usual cause is some level of infection has started to set in.  In cases where it cannot be treated through antibotics alone, a root canal is often necessary to reach and resolve the infection.

A root canal, is actually a part of the structure of a tooth.  In practice, a root canal is the removal of infection from the tooth.  The outer structure of the tooth, visible above the gum line, is known as the crown.  The center of the crown is comprised of soft tissues and a network of nerves and blood vessels, which run to the gums and root of the teeth through tunnels, called “root canals”  This is the area which is often infected, and the procedure is performed to stop the infection and save the tooth.

Modern root canals are not like the harrowing terror-filled experiences of the past.  Dr. Jennifer Bartlett performs them quite regularly for her patients and in most cases there is little to no pain.  Modern techniques and advances in dentistry and sedation, have greatly reduced the pain that was once a part of dentist office visit folklore.  Today’s patient  has a much more relaxed and comfortable experience.

Dr. Bartlett begins by administering a local anesthetic to her patient which numbs the area around the affected tooth.  When the tooth is ready she uses special tools to clean and remove the soft tissue, treating the infected area, and then using a special dental filling to fill the area where the soft tissue was removed and to prevent the area from becoming infected in the future.  In many cases she will also fit a new crown to the tooth, to help make the tooth more durable.

In rare cases, a root canal is not the right option, as it cannot fully address the level and spread of the infection, and the only alternative is an extraction.  In most cases the tooth can be saved, and Dr. Bartlett can address these and any other questions surrounding root canals.  Root Canals need not be as scary as they once were, and Dr. Bartlett works to ensure her patients are fully comfortable and experience little to no pain.

Give her office a call today if you are suffering with a bad toothache or infection, before it gets worse.