Root Canals are indicated whenever your tooth is irreversibly irritated/affected due to trauma from blunt force (accidents) or bacterial invasion (decay left untreated). To verify that your tooth is truly irreversibly affected, we utilize subjective testing such as simple percussion/tapping on the tooth, temperature testing and objective testing such as periodontal probing, palpation, visual inspection, radiographic inspection, and electric pulp testing.
Based on your subjective feedback of intensity and duration of discomfort and our objective findings on x-rays, visual inspection, probing and pulp testing, we can confidently inform you of the state of your tooth.
Teeth that are irreversibly affected do not always have immediate pain. Pain in a tooth needing Root Canal Treatment is usually described as intense, spontaneous, and having a “heart beat” to it. Pain makes it obvious that there is a problem. Waiting for pain to commence or become unbearable before seeking treatment is sadistic in nature. Other things you may notice are “pimples” on the gum tissues next to the tooth. This “pimple” is actually an area in which bacteria acids have bored through your bone and gums. Functioning as a drainage route for bacteria, this sometimes alleviates pain symptoms so that it is not as obvious to you.
Root canal treatment involves 3-dimensionally cleaning your tooth from the inside out with a series of increasingly larger files until the canals are thoroughly debrided of bacteria and debris. Once that is accomplished, we sterilize the canals, dry them, and fill them with material that seals the canals off from bacteria invasion again.