A root canal therapy is a dental treatment that is conducted for the purpose of saving a tooth that has been badly damaged or infected. The procedure is quite involving. Performed by a dentist or an orthodontist, a root canal requires the pulp being removed from the tooth, getting disinfected, refilled and sealed. There are many conditions that can warrant a root canal treatment. They include an infected dental nerve, a crack in your tooth, very deep cavities or trauma to the tooth. These conditions can all cause infection in the tooth and cause an abscess inside it. Physical evidence of this is a swollen tooth and terrible aching. In addition to these, the bacteria in the abscess can negatively affect your overall health by leaking into your blood stream and traveling to the other organs in your body. As such, if you experience swelling and terrible aching in your tooth, seek dental assistance to check if you are in need of a root canal.
What happens during a root canal diagnosis and treatment?
If you visit your dentist and they conclude that you are in need of a root canal, there are some activities that they will conduct so as to save your tooth and restore relief to you. These include:
1. An X-ray: This is the first activity that the dentist will perform when they suspect that you could be in need of a root canal. They will take X-rays to examine your tooth and identify where the decay or abscess could be.
2. Anesthesia: When you finally go to their office for the root canal procedure, the dentist will put you on some local anesthesia. It is applied to the tooth that is affected. This prevents you from feeling pain and other types of discomfort during the procedure.
3. A pulpectomy: In this procedure, the dentist makes an opening in your tooth and removes the infected pulp inside it.
4. A filling: This is a procedure that is conducted upon the roots which have been opened up. The pulp has been removed from them and they are refilled with a material known as gutta-percha. After that, the dentist seals them with cement.
Endodontic therapy after the procedure
After the procedure, you will feel some tenderness in the area where the Endodontic therapy was conducted. This is a sign of healing. In addition to that, your jaw can feel tender and sore. This is due to opening your mouth for the length of the root canal procedure. The dentist will prescribe some pain relief medication. You should take them according to their instructions and also remember not to operate machinery since the pain killers can make you drowsy. Ensure that you do not eat anything at all until the numb feeling in your mouth has worn off. In addition to that, do not bite or chew using the tooth that got the root canal. Moreover, maintain dental hygiene by brushing your teeth after every meal and flossing too.