Root Canal Therapy

Root canal therapy is needed when the nerve of a tooth is affected by decay or infection.  In order to save the tooth, the pulp (the living tissue inside the tooth) is removed the remaining tooth structure is cleaned of bacteria.  Medication is sometimes placed to fight the infection and eventually the remaining space is filled.

Having a root canal done on a tooth is the treatment of choice to save a tooth that otherwise would die and have to be removed.  Many patients believe that removing a tooth that has problems is the solution, but what is not realized is that extracting (pulling) a tooth will ultimately be more costly and cause significant problems for adjacent teeth.

Root canal treatment is highly successful and usually lasts a lifetime, although on occasion, a tooth will have to be retreated due to new infections.

Signs and symptoms for possible root canal therapy:

• An abscess (or pimple) on the gums
• Sensitivity to hot and cold
• Severe toothache pain
• Sometimes no symptoms are present
• Swelling and/or tenderness