Root canal is a specialized area of dentistry that focuses on treating disease or injury to the dental pulp, this is also known as root canal treatment.
Inside every tooth and molar under the white enamel is a hard layer called dentin. Inside this is a soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp is living tissue and is made up of blood vessels and nerves.
These can cause problems for a tooth or a molar, but also the jawbone. The making of a diagnosis, the prevention, and treatment of these problems is known as endodontology. If the pulp becomes inflamed or infected, this can lead to considerable pain or even an abscess. The root canals and the root end openings are connected with the jawbone. Due to this an infection of the dental pulp can spread further to this area. If the dental pulp is infected then you need to undergo root canal treatment.
Root canal treatment is an extremely complex procedure. At Dr. Yousef Hawamdeh Dental Clinic, we have considerable experience in carrying out root canal treatments.
Symptoms
The symptoms that your dental pulp is infected are often very clear:
Severe pain by the drinking of hot or cold drinks
Spontaneous pain which keeps you awake at night
Pain when chewing food
It’s good to be aware that not every dental pulp infection causes pain. Sometimes there are no symptoms and an infection is only discovered when an x-ray is made of your teeth or after clinical testing.
Root canal treatment
The process of root canal treatment is carried out as follows:
The dentist makes an x-ray of the root canals to determine the location of the infection.
Local anesthetic is administered and the dentist/endodontist makes an opening in the crown of the tooth.
The dentist removes the infected or dead tissue.
Very small instruments are used to clean the inside of the tooth or molar along with a disinfecting liquid.
The space that was created in the tooth or molar in the root canals are filled with a biocompatible rubber like material and is completed with a normal filling. If the tooth is seriously weakened a crown can be used in place of a regular filling.
The treatment is virtually painless due to the use of local anesthetic. It’s possible that after the treatment that you’ll experience some pain. If that’s the case we recommend the use of paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Retreatment
In some exceptional cases, it can be possible that after root canal treatment that the infection is not completely cured or that you experience a repeat of the complaints. In most cases with additional root canal treatment, you can keep your tooth or molar. In the new treatment, all root canals will be cleaned and filled again. During the treatment, the dentist will make an x-ray in order to manage the course of the treatment.
