Root Canal Treatment Tijuana
A root canal is a dental procedure often utilized as a last resort to save a diseased tooth. In many cases, they are an effective method of preventing the need to extract a tooth and can prolong the life of a natural tooth for many years.
What Is a Root Canal?
Root canal treatments are designed to clear away infections on the inside of a tooth. Teeth aren’t made of solid material. Instead, they have layers and parts to them. The innermost part of the tooth is called the pulp and surrounding it you find the dentin and enamel. The pulp is a soft tissue that contains cells, blood vessels and nerves and has nutritive, sensorial and protective functions.
When this tissue becomes infected or inflamed, it can cause severe pain. Cavities, Decay, Fractures, Traumas or Injuries are the most common situations that can affect the pulp and the whole tooth itself. They can become weakened and susceptible to cracks and breaking. A root canal treatment removes this infected pulp and prevents it from causing further harm.
When to visit a Root Canal Specialist?
Endodontists are specialists in saving teeth, committed to helping you maintain your natural smile for a lifetime. Their advanced training, specialized techniques, and superior technologies mean you get the highest quality care with the best result — saving your natural teeth!
What’s the difference between a dentist and an endodontist?
While all endodontists are dentists, less than three percent of dentists are endodontists. Just like a doctor in any other field, endodontists are specialists because they’ve completed an additional two or more years of training beyond dental school. Their additional training focuses on diagnosing tooth pain and performing root canal treatment and other procedures relating to the interior of the tooth. In many cases, a diseased tooth can be saved with endodontic treatment. For this reason, endodontists proudly refer to themselves as Specialists in Saving Teeth.
How Are Root Canals Performed?
During a root canal procedure, a small hole is drilled through the enamel of the tooth, the hardest tissue of the tooth. The dentist then inserts specialized scraping instruments into the canals to carefully remove the infected pulp tissue and thoroughly cleans the space as it gets also shaped.
Once the infected tissue has been removed, a special BIOCOMPATIBLE gum-like material is inserted into the empty tooth. This replaces the support and protection lost from the removal of the pulp, keeping the tooth stronger and healthier and bacteria free.
What’s the Post-Op Care Like with Root Canal Treatments?
Despite their reputation as horribly painful procedures, post-operative care for root canals is fairly unremarkable. Sometimes there is swelling and tenderness for a few days. Pain is typically managed with over the counter medications and does not often require strong pain killers. Many times we suggest taking care of the remaining tooth structure to prevent it from breaking.
What Are the Benefits of a Root Canal Treatment?
Many people operate under the assumption that the health of their mouth is unrelated to the health of their body. The truth is, the health of the mouth is vital to the health of the body.
Root canals have several benefits. They include:
Saving teeth from extraction. A severely infected tooth will ultimately break down and need to be removed. Missing teeth propose many health challenges, and replacing them can be time-consuming and costly for patients.
By performing a root canal treatment, dentists can keep natural teeth in their place for longer. No matter how good teeth restoration technologies get, it is always best to keep natural teeth as long as possible.
Relieving pain. Many people associate root canal treatments with pain. But while the belief tends to be that root canals cause the pain, the reality is that pain causes root canals.
Tooth pulp infections are incredibly painful, and successful root canal treatments relieve this pain. Once the usual post-operative tenderness has died down, patients are able to return to normal life without constant, searing toothache.
Preventing more serious diseases. Infections in the mouth can have drastic consequences on the rest of the body. Bacteria can travel through the bloodstream from the mouth to other areas. It’s been well documented and studied over the decades that tooth and gum disease increases the risk of cardiovascular problems. In pregnant women, diseases of the mouth can even cause complications to their unborn children.
What Are the Alternatives to Root Canal Treatment?
The only alternative to a root canal treatment is to extract the tooth. Root canals are generally intended as a last resort to save a tooth. If the tooth cannot be saved, or the patient doesn’t want a root canal treatment, the only course of action left is to remove the tooth.
Missing teeth in the jaw can cause a variety of problems. These include putting strain on teeth on the other side of the jaw, which can lead to those teeth chipping and cracking; and teeth “tipping” into the space left by the tooth, creating even more problems with eating and straining teeth.
The best way to avoid a root canal treatment is to practice proper oral hygiene through brushing and flossing. This will help protect you from infections to begin with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Root Canal Painful?
With modern technology and techniques, the root canal procedure itself is no more painful than getting a filling.
How Long Does a Root Canal Take?
Root canals can today be completed in one visit in most cases. You’ll be in the dentist office for around 1-2 hours in total.
Is Root Canal Expensive?
A root canal treatment is less costly, invasive, and time-consuming than extracting and replacing the tooth.
My Tooth Doesn’t Hurt; Doesn’t That Mean I Don’t Need a Root Canal?
Inner-tooth infections don’t always hurt all the time. Often patients will experience pain for a few days, then the pain will either go away on its own or with the help of antibiotics. This doesn’t mean the tooth is no longer infected, however. Many root canal infections are discovered by radiograph or routine inspection.
What Happens After a Root Canal?
After a root canal is complete, the dentist will schedule an appointment some weeks later. This will allow them to examine the health of the tooth, and determine what the best type of restoration is needed to cover the procedure site.