Non-Surgical Root Canal
What is a root canal?
At the center of your tooth is the pulp. This tissue originally helped to form the tooth. Irreversible damage to the pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep decay, cracks and chips, or repeated dental procedures. This injury typically results in an infection of the pulp but the pulp does not have the ability to fight this infection. A root canal removes this tissue, disinfects the inside of the tooth,and then fills in where the tissue used to be so that bacteria can no longer live inside the tooth.
What can I expect during the procedure?
During the root canal treatment your tooth will be profoundly numbed with local anesthesia.Patients typically do not feel anything while being treated. A rubber dam will be placed around the tooth so that the tooth can be kept clean. The length of the procedure will depend on which tooth is being treated. When the root canal is complete, a temporary filling will be placed in the tooth.
What happens after treatment?
After the root canal treatment your tooth will need a permanent restoration.Some teeth will need only a filling and some teeth will require a crown to help structurally protect the tooth from fracture. Dr. Solar will help you decide which restoration is appropriate.This treatment should ideally be done within two weeks of the root canal to minimize the chance of the root canal becoming reinfected due to leakage around the temporary filling. The long term success of root canals are in the high 90% range and the final restoration is an important part of this success.In the few cases that are not successful, re-treatment of the procedure may be necessary.