Do you long for a time when drinking hot tea or eating cold ice cream didn’t result in stinging pain?
The tingling pain that comes with sensitive teeth is frustrating, and can force you to change your diet. Luckily, it’s something that a dentist in Armadale can address : depending on the cause, there are a range of dental procedures that can reduce your dental pain.
One of these is endodontics, or, more commonly: root canal.
What is a root canal?
Before we explain what a root canal is, we need to talk about dental pulp.
While your teeth are strong and hard, their insides aren’t. Underneath the hard enamel layer is what we call the pulp chamber, which contains nerves, blood vessels, connective tissue, and more.
All of this stuff is extremely sensitive. Normally, this isn’t an issue – the problem is when the enamel is damaged, leading to sensitivity.
Many of these cases can be fixed with fillings or dental crowns.
But what happens if the pulp itself gets infected?
Infected dental pulp leads to even worse pain, tooth discolouration and can even lead to the infection spreading elsewhere.
By removing infected dental pulp, root canal procedures eliminate the resulting dental pain.
How does root canal work?
Step #1: initial consultation with your dentist in Armadale
Pain doesn’t automatically mean you’ll need to arrange a root canal – there are many ways to treat dental pain, and it’s important that you’re prescribed the most appropriate.
Which one’s right for you? An Armadale dentist can help you with that!
During your initial consultation, your dentist can help determine whether or not your dental pain is the result of infected dental pulp, or if it’s caused by another issue.
This is the time where we examine your teeth, investigate the problem, and devise the best solution.
Step #2: Teeth x-rays
Since the nerve and pulp of your tooth extend into your gum line, your dentist may perform an x-ray to check how extensive the infection is.
Digital x-rays in your teeth are usually conducted before undergoing the root canal treatment, helping us determine the scale of the issue and start planning for your root canal procedure.
Step #3: Receive expert root canal analysis
Next, your Armadale dentist usually looks at the extent of the infection and how immediately your root canal treatment is needed in order to deal with your pain.
X-rays often show infections as dark spots, but not all cases are so clear-cut.
Knowing the extent of infection is key to ensuring that your root canal is a success, which is why it’s so important that we know what the extent of the problem is.
Step #4: Root canal treatment
So, your Armadale dentist has determined that your oral health condition requires root canal treatment. Now it’s time for the procedure itself.
At Dental Care Group, we believe that a root canal treatment should only be completed if there is a good chance it will last a long time.
Just like the other dental procedures, patients are also given anaesthesia to feel comfortable with the procedure, even if the nerve is already dead.
Your dentist in Armadale usually keeps the area of your tooth dry and disinfected before it will be drilled. We’ll remove bacteria and decayed nerve tissue, scrubbing and scraping the insides of your infected tooth while we’re at it to ensure that we haven’t missed anything.
Once your tooth has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by a calcium hydroxide mixture, the tooth will be sealed with a filling and you’ll be prescribed an antibiotic to help protect your tooth from further infection.
As you can see, it’s quite an extensive procedure. Depending on the extent of your case, it may take two dental visits or more to complete your root canal treatment.
In such cases, your Armadale dentist will temporarily seal your tooth to protect it between sessions.
Step #5: Further tooth restoration
Our work doesn’t end once your infected tooth is finally sealed.
Our goal is to ensure the problem doesn’t rear its ugly head again. To do that, your Armadale dentist might advise you to take further restorative dentistry procedures such as crowns to further protect your weakened teeth.
Why you need an emergency dentist in Armadale
If it hurts, it’s an emergency – simple as that!
Infected dental pulp can be extremely debilitating and disruptive. It can stop you from eating, and can even spread to other parts of your mouth causing even more serious issues.
All of this makes dental pulp infections genuine dental emergencies, which need to be addressed promptly.
Our emergency dentists in Armadale understand that time is of the essence when it comes to dental emergencies. If you call us before midday with a dental emergency, we’ll make space to see you that very same day to assess your dental pulp infection.
And it isn’t just dental pulp infection that we treat either – our dentist in Armadale also provides emergency consultations, analysis and treatment for a range of dental emergencies, including:
Need a root canal procedure? Call an emergency dentist in Armadale asap!
Root canal procedures can’t wait until later – as with any infection, it’s important to get on top of it before it spreads… especially when it’s in your mouth!
Whatever dental emergency you’re experiencing, it’s important that you get it treated as soon as you can by your local dental clinic in Armadale.
Dr Zelman Lew and his team are experts in a range of dental procedures, including endodontics.
Whatever your dental emergency is, our team can put you on the path to recovery, save your smile and help save you from pain while eating.
Contact Dental Care Group today on (03) 9509 1500 or click here to schedule a consultation about your oral health.
