Root Canal Therapy

What is a Root Canal?

Root canal therapy involves the removal and replacement of the pulp of a tooth. The pulp is the soft tissue found inside teeth and molars. Within the tooth’s pulp are blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue. The pulp, damaged by a fracture or a deep caries lesion, can’t repair itself. Bacteria seep inside and cause irreversible damage. The damaged pulp causes inflammation and increases pressure inside the tooth. In addition, you may feel pain when taking cold or hot foods or drinks. The pain worsens until it becomes too much, at which time you need painkillers and dental care.

Signs You May Need Root Canal Treatment

If you experience severe pain in a tooth when chewing something, schedule a dental exam at Brian C. McDowell, DDS and learn about the root canal procedure. Severe pain can take place due to an infection in the root. Consequently, you must undergo a surgical procedure and remove the infected area. On the other hand, people dealing with prolonged sensitivity and discoloration of teeth can also think about going forward with root canal treatments.

• Severe pain while chewing or biting
• Pimples on the gums
• A chipped or cracked tooth
• Lingering sensitivity to hot or cold
• Swollen or tender gums
• Deep decay or darkening of the gums

Benefits Of Root Canal Therapy

One of the significant advantages of a root canal is that it saves a natural tooth from being pulled. Before, tooth infection or dental pulp inflammation meant tooth extraction. Now, an endodontist can treat the same tooth and keep it intact. Saving a natural tooth is necessary for your smile’s aesthetics and facial structure.

Additionally, a root canal allows you to eat whatever you did before an infection. Once the treatment is complete and our Fitchburg dentist, Dr. McDowell places the filling and dental crown, you can resume your regular diet. You can bite, chew, and brush your treated tooth like nothing happened.

Last, the restored tooth will look like a natural tooth if a crown is the same shade as the surrounding teeth. If you had a root canal done previously, you might want to replace the filling or crown around it with the most up-to-date version for an improved appearance.

Alternative Treatment Options to a Root Canal

If you don’t elect root canal treatment, your dentist will likely need to extract the infected tooth. Extracting the infected tooth is essential for preventing the spread of infection. Once our general dentist, Dr. McDowell removes the tooth, he will need to replace it. The treatment options for replacing a tooth are wearing a denture, installing a dental bridge, or getting a dental implant. These are all viable solutions; however, they require additional time. In addition, there is a more extended recovery period since the procedures will take several steps. Therefore, an easy and cheap solution is to save your tooth by getting a root canal treatment.

Schedule A Consultation At Brian McDowell, DDS

Call our Fitchburg dental practice at (978) 252-2049 to schedule a root canal treatment with Dr. Brian McDowell. With advanced training and 30+ years of experience, our dentist has performed many root canals for patients from Fitchburg, Leominster, Westminster, Gardner, Lunenburg, MA and many surrounding areas.

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