Root Canal Therapy, Endodontic Retreatment, Endodontic Microsurgery
What Root Canal Therapy is, and Why You Might Need it
In order to understand why you might need a root canal treatment, it is useful to know the internal makeup of your teeth. The portion of your tooth that you can see when you look in the mirror is called the crown of the tooth. The rest of the tooth is hidden beneath the gum line and is called the root. Under the white enamel and dentin, is a soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels and nerves. It extends from the crown to the tip of the root where it connects to the tissue surrounding the root.
Your teeth are meant to last your entire life. However, sometimes, damage to your tooth like a cavity, a tooth fracture, a traumatic injury or gum disease can put your teeth at risk of infection. Endodontic treatment, more commonly known as root canal therapy, is required when the dental pulp becomes inflamed or infected.
To preserve the affected tooth, it’s essential to remove the infected pulp either completely or partially. This is what we call endodontic therapy, which is more commonly referred to as “Root Canal Therapy”
Most often, the only alternative to root canal treatment is to extract the tooth. After a successful root canal treatment, your general dentist will restore the tooth.
Signs & Symptoms That Suggest That You Might Require Root Canal Therapy
Root canal treatment is required whenever the pulp of your tooth becomes inflamed or infected. This often occurs because you either have a cavity that opened your tooth up to infection, or you’ve experienced a tooth fracture. Sometimes, you might not have any symptoms at all.
Minor or Severe Pain: The pain associated with the need for root canal treatment isn’t always intense. Sometimes, it can be dull or sharp. Sometimes it will come from your jaw area, and can be especially noticeable when chewing. Other times, you might not even be able to pinpoint exactly which tooth is affected.
Sensitivity: While sensitivity can often be normal, the sensitivity associated with an infection often lasts much longer. You will often experience this sensitivity when eating or drinking hot or cold foods and liquids.
Discoloration of affected teeth: Discoloration of your teeth is a very obvious sign that there’s an underlying problem.
Swelling and irritation in the gum area: Swelling and irritation in the gum area can be indicative of an abscess, which is common when there’s an infection between the tooth and gum.
A pimple like bump on your gums: If an infection goes untreated, it can cause a bump on your gums that looks like a pimple. This is a sign that you have developed an abscess that should be evaluated as soon as possible. It may smell, or leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Additional symptoms: Jaw pain, facial swelling, trouble sleeping, a hot or feverish feeling in your face.
Endodontic Retreatment
Most root canal treatments are successful. But in some rare cases, a tooth that has been treated doesn’t heal properly and can become painful or diseased months or even years after treatment. If your tooth failed to heal or develops new problems, an additional procedure may be able to support healing and save your tooth. This is called re-treatment. During re-treatment, the tooth is reopened to remove the filling materials that were placed in the root canals during the first procedure. The tooth is then examined for additional canals or new infection. The root canals are then reshaped, recleaned and new filling materials placed. The opening is then sealed with a temporary filling whereafter the general dentist would complete the process with a permanent filling.
Endodontic Microsurgery
If you’ve received a root canal treatment, it’s not uncommon for the tooth to recover and last for the rest of your life without any additional treatment. However, if your tooth doesn’t fully heal or becomes infected again — you might need additional treatment.
If your tooth becomes painful after you’ve received root canal therapy, it could be the sign of a new infection. This can happen months or even years after initial treatment. In this case, you might need root end surgery — also known as an apicoectomy.
Surgery is done to:
- Check the end of the root for fractures (cracks).
- Remove parts of the root that could not be cleaned during regular root canal treatment.
- Clean up residual infection.
We use advanced technologies like digital imaging and operating microscopes to perform surgeries quickly and comfortably.