Root Canal

A root canal is a reliable option for saving your teeth. Toothaches can be painful and may cost your smile. When you experience cavities in your teeth, root canal comes in handy. It restores your teeth to good condition without having to lose them by extraction. At Dentalville Panorama City in Los Angeles, we have affordable prices for root canal treatments and other endodontics services!

Do You Need A Root Canal Treatment?

Root canal or endodontic treatment applies when the pulp suffers an infection. The infections result from deep tooth decays, repeated exposure to dental procedures, or traumatic damage like cracking or root fracture. Disease of the gum could also affect the pulp calling for prompt root canal treatment.

The structure of a tooth includes:

• The enamel forming the outer layer of the tooth. It is the visible part of the tooth.
• The dentin which follows next to the enamel. It holds the pulp chamber.
• The pulp chamber that carries blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue of your tooth. It is the part that keeps the tooth alive.

Infections result in acute inflammation of the pulp causing pressure inside the tooth. That causes pain and eventually extensive damage to the pulp. The death of the pulp may reduce the pain initially and return later as an acute, sharp pain. Regardless of the cause of the tooth problem, root canal treatment is necessary to save your tooth. Before any root canal procedure, proper assessment of the teeth has to be done and the right diagnosis made to determine an applicable approach during treatment. In most cases, we may request an X-ray of the infected tooth area. In addition to this, a general health assessment is essential as well as current medications to ensure safety.

The Process of Root Canal Treatment

• We administer local anesthesia to the affected tooth to numb the area and prevent pain effect.
• A dental dam which is a thin sheet of rubber covers the treatment area. The infected tooth penetrates the rubber sheet through a punched hole. The sheets provide a sterile environment for the treatment preventing contamination from saliva.
• We drill a small hole on the enamel to allow access to the infected pulp and root canals.
• At this stage, the dead pulp matter is removed using special tools responsible for cleaning the root canals. The removal of the pulp tissue warrants a pain-free tooth.
• The canals have to be disinfected to prevent bacteria and other infection-causing organisms.
• After proper cleaning, the channels are shaped to allow reception of root canal fillings. We clean again to remove any excess material before filling the canals.
• The root filling is placed. Usually, a rubber-like material is suitable or thermoplastic material. Adhesive cement seals the filling material tightly into the canal space.
• A filling material seals the access hole. It can either be permanent or temporary.
• After the root canal procedure, We may prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection.

Your tooth will need a permanent crown to replace the lost tooth structure. Root canal treatment restores damaged teeth by extracting pain-sensitive nerves and blood vessels in the tooth's pulp. Eventually, you save your tooth, fight a toothache and reset the tooth back to normal function.