What Is a Root Canal?

We asked our Burlington Dentist to explain what a root canal is and why is it done? Here’s what they said!

You know that severe tooth ache that makes everything in life come to a stop, keeps you up at night and can sometimes bring one to tears? That’s an inflamed tooth nerve, and it can cause this much pain if it gets to a point where it is irritated so much for so long that the body can’t fight off the irritation any longer.

Tooth ache starts off, more often than not, with mild subliminal signs that can often be ignored. For example, slight sensitivity to cold, or a zing here and there while chewing, or even just a slight pain to very sweet food. Our Burlington dentist explains that most patients with toothache of the sort will manage it with painkillers or all together ignore it! It can ne deceiving because a lot of the times the pain will disappear on its own or be mild enough and sporadic that it can be dismissed. Unfortunately, though our dentist in Burlington explains that most toothache does not get resolved on its own. When the pain settles down, it doesn’t necessarily mean it healed, but could just be transitioning to the next stage, while your body tries to fight it off, winning one time and losing the next!

This could be thought of as the first stage of toothache. It could be repaired with a simple filling or perhaps some gum cleaning. If this stage of tooth pain is ignored, the second stage begins, which would involve more profound toothache. What we see at our Burlington dental clinic is pain with hot and cold food or drinks, that is spontaneous, sharp and can sometimes wake one up at night. At this point, the tooth nerve is inflamed irreversibly. The dentist explains that this means it can’t be fixed with a simple filling anymore. The tooth cavity has gone too far into the nerve that the nerve now needs to be treated to remove the inflammation this has caused. This is when our dentist would suggest a root canal treatment to help save the tooth.

So, what does a root canal treatment involve? Our dentist at our Burlington clinic explains that the process involves removing all the tooth cavity as well as the nerve that has been causing the tooth ache. Sometimes a tooth can have more than one nerve, and they are all removed. The area inside the root where the nerve used to sit is also cleaned and rinsed with medication to ensure proper healing. To complete the root canal treatment, the roots are filled with a natural material that is biologically compatible with the human body to seal where the nerve used to be. The dentist then considers the root canal treatment complete. The next step would be to build the tooth back with a filling to restore the lost tooth structure from cavities and decay. Our dentist in Burlington recommends getting a cap or crown on the tooth to help prevent further damage.

At Blossom Smiles Dental, we complete this process usually in one visit. Sometimes, if the tooth requires more time to heal, our dentist recommends the patient return for a second visit and place medication inside the tooth to help the tooth stay healthy and save it. Treatment for tooth cavities is customized based on the patient’s needs at our Burlington dental clinic!