When do we need a root canal treatment?
We need a root canal treatment when the pulp tissue is damage. This tissue can get damage by the presence of deep cavities, or by trauma. The symptoms may start by experiencing pain to cold and hot substances, pain when you chew, swollenness in the gum or cheek, grey pigmentation of the tooth structure, and others.
Is the root canal treatment painful?
Nowadays this is a treatment that should NOT be painful. After administering local anesthesia (same kind of anesthesia we use for a filling), the patient shouldn’t feel anything at all. In most of the cases, the treatment will be finish in one appointment, while in some exceptions a second appointment will be needed to conclude the procedure.
A root canal treatment appointment takes approximately one hour. It is a long appointment but in Nova Dental we have several modalities to make this easy for the patient. We have television on the ceiling, so that the patient can choose their favorite TV channel. Another option is the use of some goggles to watch your favorite movie.
It is very important that a proper restoration is done to the tooth after the root canal treatment, this can either be a filling or a crown (porcelain or zirconium) depending on amount of tooth structure left.
Who has the adequate training to perform a root canal treatment?
A general practitioner has the training to perform root canals in anterior teeth, because they only have one root canal. Instead premolars and molars (posterior teeth), which have from 2 to 4 or more canals should be done by specialist in root canals called endodontist. Endodontists like Dr. Paola Truque, at Nova Dental, have special equipment to perform this procedures, these include digital x-rays, clinical microscope, ultrasonics, electronic apex locators, rotary files, and modern systems for the delivery of therma plasticed gutta-percha. Digital x-rays produce 90% less radiation than conventional method, plus it gives the practitioner other tools to modify the x-ray like contrast. The clinical microscope permits the endodontist to observe the inside of the canals 20 times bigger than without it. In Nova Dental we have one of the best clinical microscopes. For more information go to our section ‘Microscope Enhanced Dentistry.’