Treatment
Root Canal Therapy
The treatment that keeps your own tooth. Far more comfortable than its reputation, and almost always better than losing it.
When the nerve inside a tooth becomes infected or irreversibly inflamed, root canal therapy removes that tissue, disinfects the space it occupied, and seals it. The tooth stays in your mouth and continues to function. The alternative is extraction, which means either living with a gap or replacing the tooth with an implant or bridge.
The tooth is numbed thoroughly, then isolated so the working area stays clean. The infected pulp is removed through a small access opening, the canals are shaped and disinfected, and the space is filled and sealed. Because a treated tooth is more brittle without its nerve and blood supply, it is then usually protected with a crown, which we can often make and place the same day.
It ends the pain, and it usually ends it quickly. Beyond the relief, it preserves your own tooth, which keeps the neighboring teeth from drifting, maintains the bone around the socket, and avoids the greater cost and complexity of replacing a tooth later.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Root Canal Therapy.
Patients with a severe or lingering toothache, throbbing that keeps them awake, pain on biting, prolonged sensitivity to hot, swelling or a bad taste near a tooth, or a tooth that has darkened after previous trauma. Sometimes the need is found on an x-ray before any symptoms appear at all.
Considerably easier than the reputation suggests. Modern anesthetic and instruments mean most patients feel nothing during treatment and describe it as similar to having a filling, just longer. The pain people associate with root canals is almost always the infection beforehand, not the procedure that relieves it.
Most root canals are completed in one appointment of sixty to ninety minutes. Molars with more canals, or teeth with significant infection, are sometimes done across two visits. The protective crown follows, and with CEREC we can frequently place that the same day.
Success rates are high but not absolute, and occasionally a tooth needs retreatment or referral to an endodontic specialist, which we will arrange without hesitation. A treated tooth genuinely does need a crown; skipping it is the most common reason these teeth fracture later. Root canal therapy is typically covered in part by dental insurance.
Expect the tooth to feel tender to bite on for a few days while the surrounding ligament settles, managed easily with over-the-counter pain relief. Eat on the other side until the crown is placed. Sharp pain, swelling, or worsening discomfort after the first couple of days is not expected, so call us if that happens.
Get Your GLOW On
Your smile deserves this kind of attention
A boutique practice in Aliso Viejo, built around smile design, comprehensive care, and the kind of unhurried attention that makes dentistry feel different. We would love to meet you.