Root Canal Therapy

Root canal therapy is needed when the tissues inside the tooth become unhealthy and infected. Treating this condition is what most people call "getting a root canal." Often, you may need a root canal because there is a large cavity with bacteria contaminating the inside of the tooth, but other reasons include a crack in the tooth or an injury/trauma jolting the tooth enough to disrupt its blood supply. 

Root canals historically have a bad reputation, but modern endodontics is an entire dental specialty devoted to root canal therapy. Many patients are worried that a root canal will be painful, but at Martin Endodontics, most patients report a virtually painless experience. Getting a root canal today is not much different from other dental procedures like getting a filling or a crown.

Understanding Root Canal Treatment

Let's talk more about what a root canal is. To understand this treatment, we need to understand the make-up of your tooth underneath your gums. We like to use the analogy of a pencil to explain a root canal. 

Your tooth is shaped like a pencil:
  • The "eraser" is the part of your tooth sticking out of your gums.
  • The rest of the pencil is the root of your tooth that goes under your gums.
  • The "lead" is your root canal space filled with tiny blood vessels and nerves. The tip of the pencil lead connects to the blood vessels of the rest of your body. 
If there is a crack, cavity, or anything that exposes the root canal space (the "lead") to bacteria, the nerves and blood vessels in the root canal become inflamed. Unlike the rest of your body, this blood supply is stuck in a very narrow root canal space. It is sandwiched between rock-hard root structures, so any disruption to this blood supply can be a big problem.

When Do I Need a Root Canal?

 If the blood supply in the root canal space gets too inflamed, your body cannot replenish and heal that tissue, and that bacteria starts to brew an infection. Typically, the inflammation stage is where people have a toothache. You may experience:
  • Hot and cold sensitivity
  • Pain when biting
  • Throbbing
At this point, Advil or Tylenol usually provide relief by calming the nerves inside the tooth. But this is only temporary. If you have any of these symptoms, root canal therapy, better known as "a root canal," is needed.

Do not wait for the pain to go away on its own. If you do feel a sudden decrease in pain, it might only mean the infection killed the tooth's nerves. In these cases, you may lose your tooth. Don't wait to come in for root canal treatment at Martin Endodontics.

What Is Involved in a Root Canal Procedure?

Gathering Information for Successful Treatment

When you come to Martin Endodontics, you'll start by filling out a medical history and answering some questions about your dental history and symptoms on the offending tooth. This helps give us a full picture of what is going on. To provide the best treatment, we need to know:
  • If a medical condition or nervous system problem might be exacerbating your toothache
  • If any medications that you are on might be masking your symptoms
  • If we might need to put you on antibiotics in addition to root canal therapy
We will then take x-rays – We typically like to have some sent from your regular dentist, but we also need a couple different angles specific to endodontic treatment to better view the roots of your tooth. We will take a look at the tooth, your gums, and your bite. We also perform several simple tests to measure the level of inflammation and infection in the problem tooth as well as the teeth nearby. Once we reach a diagnosis for your tooth, we will talk about treatment options. If endodontic treatment is needed, we are usually able to get started the same day for you.

Setting Up a Comfortable Treatment

 We start by placing topical anesthesia, "numbing jelly," on the gums around the root of your tooth. We then use local anesthesia to numb the tooth and surrounding tissues. From this point on, you should not feel any pain, just pressure and cold water while we are working. 

Restoring the Tooth to Health

Remember the pencil analogy? A root canal involves:
  • Making a small window in the pencil eraser
  • Cleaning out the lead with small brushes and rinsing with disinfecting solution
  • Filling up the cleaned root canal space with a material called gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a plant-based substance that is antimicrobial and is the standard of care in filling root canals. We place a small temporary filling in the eraser window we made, and you go back to your regular dentist for a permanent restoration of the top part of the tooth.

What Can You Expect After a Root Canal?

Several days of soreness – and several is different for every person. This soreness is no longer because of any inflamed nerve inside the tooth, but just from working on your tooth for several hours. A combination of Advil and Tylenol is all you need to manage this soreness, and swelling is rare. 

If there was quite a bit of infection to begin with beyond the tip of the roots, we will place you on oral antibiotics to help dry up things and speed up the recovery process. However, once the tooth is treated, your body can start to take care of any infection beyond the roots. Most people go back to work and their daily activities that same day.

Schedule Your Appointment Today

If you are suffering from severe tooth pain and tooth decay, do not wait to receive treatment. Beverly Hills Endodontist make every effort to provide our patients with a comfortable and professional experience. Schedule your appointment today to get started on saving your tooth and preserving your smile. 

When you come in for root canal treatment, our friendly staff will answer any questions or concerns you might have. Every step of the way, you are kept fully informed of what to expect. Call Martin Endodontics in Beverly Hills today at (310) 278-5403 to learn more about the services we provide.