In some cases it may be necessary to make a root canal treatment in an attempt to preserve it.
Why does my tooth need a root canal treatment?
Inside the tooth there is a nerve. When making a root canal treatment, you remove the nerve and replace it with a suitable material. The reasons to remove a nerve are most often:
- Cavity in the tooth (caries)
- Previously filled cavity, where the filling is too close to the nerve or the nerve ends up dying anyway
- Cracked tooth
- Trauma
It is important to remove the bacteria, their waste products and the inflammation in the jaw as otherwise a root tip inflammation can develop, with the risk of an operation. X-ray shows root tip inflammation (dark shade) and a root filling (white).
Symptoms
When the nerve is inflamed it feels like toothache. The pain varies from person to person, and may feel like coming from the teeth next to it, the jaw cavity, the ear, or as a headache. It is therefore not always easy to find out which tooth causes problems.
In the case of a nerve inflammation heat or cold will most often trigger pain. Pain is usually not experienced in a root tip inflammation, but may be associated with some discomfort or soreness and it may change color. The root tip inflammation can be seen on an X-ray.
Antibiotic cannot remove a dead inflamed nerve, but can together with pain killers be necessary if treatment cannot be performed for a short time.
How to do it?
To begin with, you will, if necessary, be given anesthesia. The dentist starts by opening up to the nerve. The nerve is removed and special root files are used to clean the root canal.
Once the root canal has been cleaned and disinfected, the canal must be sealed to avoid another bacteria invasion. This is done with a plastic filling material (pink material). The result will be checked on an X-ray to ensure that the treatment is in order.
Complications
There is no guarantee that the treatment will always be successful or that there will be no subsequent complications. An optimal root canal treatment is successful in 80-95% of the cases. A hard-to-reach, calcified or deflected root canal can cause the root file to get stuck in the canal, break or go out through the side of the root, which can lead to surgery or tooth extraction.
After a root treatment
The days after a root canal treatment, you may experience slight pain. If the pain persists or gets worse please contact us.
A root canal treatment is complicated and very time consuming. It is not always possible gaining control of the bacteria. In some cases, further root canal treatment or root canal surgery may be necessary.
Some root canal treated teeth will eventually get a darker color and must therefore either be bleached or have a crown applied. Once the nerve is removed, the tooth will be more fragile and you will not be able to feel pressure and congestion in the same way in the tooth.
Always remember to ask your dentist if you have any questions.