Root Canal Treatment

A root canal treatment is a procedure that involves removing the painful and infected nerve of the tooth, cleaning the remaining cavity of any pus or bacteria, and sealing the cavity with synthetic materials to prevent future infection.

Infection of a tooth is usually related to bacteria entering the nerve system. Typically this happens due to:

• Deep decay
• Cracked tooth or lost filling
• Previous deep fillings
• Trauma to the tooth
• Periodontal infection of the tooth

When a tooth is infected with bacteria, the tooth becomes painful to hot and cold, tender to touch and cannot be chewed on. If tooth pulp infection is left untreated, complications could occur, such as:

• Localised Bone Loss – the pulp infection spreads through the ends of the roots and eat away healthy jaw bone
• Spreading Infection – once the pulp becomes infected, the bacteria inside the root canal system will multiply. This can cause a severe infection or an endodontic abscess or pus when it spreads into the surrounding areas, such as facial spaces, airways and even the brain!
• Loss of Tooth – the tooth may have to be removed due to advanced infection and looseness.

Root canal treatments are often done in multiple stages to complete the treatment, depending on the difficulty of the procedure.

1. Local anesthetic to numb the tooth to minimise pain and remove decay and infection – any old or leaky fillings, tooth decay, infected nerve tissue, pus and debris are removed. Depending on the circumstances, the root canal may be left open for a few days in order to drain.
2. Cleaning inside and filling of the root canals – to prevent bacteria from re-infecting the empty root canals, a permanent seal is placed inside the tooth.
3. Making the tooth functional again – to make sure no bacteria can leak back into the tooth, a new restoration (such as a crown) is required. A crown further protects the weakened tooth as root canal treatment hollows out the tooth considerably.

When you arrange a root canal treatment with us, we will do everything to ensure a safe and comfortable recovery, including providing you with aftercare prescription and instructions. Your treated tooth should feel much better, with much diminished pain and discomfort by the next day. A root canal treated tooth should be comfortable and pain free to eat on after the completion of root canal treatment.