More Info On Saving Teeth
Good dental hygiene is important for the health of your teeth
. Tooth decay can destroy healthy enamel as well as invade tooth pulp the soft centres of your teeth causing the nerves and blood vessels of the pulp to become inflamed or die. If that occurs, root canal therapy (RCT) might be necessary to remove the damaged pulp and rescue a tooth, thereby preventing pain, swelling or even tooth loss in most situations.
Keeping your own teeth is still the best option in most instances, rather than losing teeth and then requiring dentures, bridgework or implants to replace them.
What is it exactly?
Root canal therapy (or endodontic treatment) is a series of procedures that allow a dead or damaged pulp to be removed, along with any germs that have caused the damage. Medications are used inside the tooth to settle it down, kill germs and get rid of any pain, while promoting healing. Infected teeth may require several appointments in order to medicate the tooth and successfully kill the germs.
A temporary filling is placed in the tooth between appointments to keep the medication in place, prevent germs from entering the tooth and to allow you to gently eat on the tooth between visits. Once the tooth is trouble-free, the space occupied by the pulp is filled with a substitute material, commonly a rubbery substance and a resin glue. The treatment is usually performed under local anaesthetic over a minimum of two appointments.
Once the RCT is complete, it is very important to seal the top part of the tooth to prevent re-infection. This involves placement of a new filling on the tooth and, sometimes, a crown.
When is it required?
The following symptoms might indicate the presence of an infected tooth requiring root canal therapy:
severe pain on biting and chewing that lingers afterwards
toothache that wakes you up at night
sensitivity to temperature, especially hot foods and drinks
red, tender and swollen gums around a tooth, which may feel loose
a lump on the gum adjacent to the tooth, often with a yellow head of pus (a dental abscess)
facial swelling and pain.
If these symptoms are present, it is imperative that you consult a dentist immediately to ensure early treatment. If a damaged pulp is not treated, or if it is treated too late, it may not be possible to save the tooth. In these cases the tooth will eventually need to be extracted.
Who can perform root canal therapy?
Endodontics is a field of dentistry that relates to the dental pulp, root and inner structures of the teeth.
In Australia, all dentists can provide endodontic treatment. However, some dentists might refer you to a specialist, especially for treatment of teeth with more than one root canal (such as molar teeth at the back of your mouth), or where there is a risk of complications with treatment.
Life of teeth after treatment
The Australian Dental Association says that restored teeth can last a lifetime if cared for properly.
If you find that you need a root canal therapy, its important to understand why the pulp in the tooth has died and to try to avoid other teeth experiencing a similar fate. Regular check ups are recommended to monitor the health of your whole mouth and to ensure that the treated tooth has healed and remains healthy.
by: Andrew Cate
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