How Does Root Canal Treatment Work?
A tooth consists of the crown, the visible part above the gum, and the root beneath the gum. The tooth root has a pulp that contains nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues. This pulp nourishes the tooth and promotes its development. However, an infection may set in the pulp requiring a root canal in Toronto, ON. Read on to learn how root canal treatment works.
How Root Canal Therapy Works
Root canal treatment or therapy is a procedure to remove the inflamed or infected tissue from inside a tooth. It eliminates the painful symptoms of infected tooth roots and helps save the natural tooth. The dentist in Arlington eliminates all infected tissue, fills and seals the tooth then restores it using a dental crown. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia to prevent pain.
Types of Root Canal Treatment
A dentist or endodontist may use various tools and methods to eliminate the infected part. The variations result in different types of root canal treatment. They are:
- Traditional Root Canal Treatment
It is the most common type of root canal procedure. Traditional root canal treatment involves removing all infectious dental pulp and tooth nerves are removed from inside the tooth center. This procedure is suitable for treating root canals at the initial stages of the infection.
The dentist in Arlington will create a small hole in the tooth near the roots to allow access to the dental pulp for cleaning. Next, this expert will use several tiny files to clean the tooth’s interior through the pilot hole. The files scrape the inner tooth’s sides, brushing off and removing the infected pulp.
Your dentist will flush the area with cleaning solutions to remove all debris. Next, they will seal the tooth with a filling material to prevent re-infection. Finally, the dental expert will place a dental crown over the tooth to strengthen and protect it. The method requires two dental appointments to complete.
- BIOLASE Waterlase System
It is a type of root canal therapy that involves lasers, water, and air. They work together to eliminate infection-causing bacteria from the root canals. This method is minimally invasive as the dentist in St.Clair West, Toronto, ON removes only a tiny portion of the tooth structure. In addition, it is very effective since it pulls out more debris from the tooth’s interior than the traditional root canal method.
- GentleWave Root Canal
This type uses files to clean out the infected tooth pulp, similar to the traditional root canal treatment. However, the method also involves using fluids and sound waves to clean out the inner part of the tooth. As a result, the GentleWave root canal procedure effectively cleans out the sections of the tooth roots that are hardest to reach.
The type of root canal treatment is minimally invasive. So it has a better chance of long-term success than the conventional type. In addition, you will only need a single appointment with the dentist to complete this procedure.
- Apicoectomy
Sometimes, a patient may need root canal retreatment after root canal therapy. It is necessary when a previous procedure was unsuccessful in the long term. This happens when you have complex anatomy inside your tooth, such as an extra canal that the treatment did not address. It may also be needed after re-infection the root canals due to cavities or cracks in the tooth.
This root canal therapy involves reaccessing the tooth roots and cleaning out the new infection. The dentist will remove the filling material used and a tip of the tooth’s root to reach the infected part. After eliminating all diseases from the tooth and the alveolar bone, the tooth is restored and left to heal.
- Pulpotomy
It is a type of root canal treatment for kids performed when the infection affects a portion of the inner tooth. The dentist removes only the infected dental pulp and nerves, leaving the healthy part.
- Pulpectomy
This, too, is a root canal treatment for children. It is carried out when the child’s entire tooth pulp is infected. The dentist in St.Clair West, Toronto, ON will remove all the tooth pulp and replace it with a filler material.
Our dentists can perform any type of root canal in Toronto, ON. Contact us at Arlington Dental for root canal treatment or retreatment for you or your child. We provide pain-free, safe, and effective root canal treatment.