Dentists in Millwoods know how much people are afraid of the words root canal. Root canal treatment has a reputation — wrong and outdated, but persistent and pervasive — as being complicated and painful. One of the most problematic things about that reputation is that too many people think about it and let it prevent them from getting urgent dental attention that they might need to address serious infections and prevent continuing symptoms.
Here’s the truth. Root canal therapy today is not painful. Tooth infections can hurt. Root canal therapy almost instantly eliminates the symptoms of root canal, including pain. Are you concerned about the effects of a tooth infection? Are you thinking about a recommendation to undergo root canal therapy? If either of those things are true, you need to know the straight goods about root canal treatment.
First things first. What is a root canal?
The interior of a tooth contains areas called the pulp chamber and root canal. A tooth’s root canal has three elements: nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues. Serious tooth infections that have reached the interior of a tooth can cause that pulp chamber and the tissues in the root canal to get inflamed and even pus-filled.
A dentist in Millwoods solves the pain of severe tooth infection by opening up that tooth and removing the inflamed pulp. Once the infected material was removed from your tooth, a dentist in Millwoods will clean out your tooth and then seal it to keep it from getting infected again.
After you’ve recovered from the root canal surgery, the procedure will be completed — and your tooth will be fully and completely protected — your dentist will prepare and place a crown to restore all dental function and seal your tooth from any additional infection. Once the root canal procedure is completed with the placement of that crown, all you need to do to ensure full dental function and a perfectly healthy tooth going forward is to brush and floss regularly, and to attend dental check-ups and cleanings regularly.
Root canal is painless
Your dentist in Millwoods will numb your infected tooth and the gums around it while you are undergoing your root canal treatment. That numbing process is essential and completely effective. You won’t feel anything while you Once numbed, you won’t feel anything. What you will notice, though, is that your pain will be absent almost immediately after the infection has been drained away.
While the procedure itself will be completely painless, you should expect to feel some discomfort once the anesthetic wears off and during your recovery from surgery. That discomfort is normal and natural, and is usually minor enough to treat with over the counter pain medication and by following these simple steps that your dentist in Millwoods will explain thoroughly.
How to recover from root canal treatment quickly and completely
- Wait to eat until you’ve recovered and until given the green light by your dentist
- Keep your head elevated while resting and sleeping
- Gargle with warm salted water
- Reduce swelling by using cold compresses
- During your recovery, don’t drink hot liquids, smoke, use straws, or drink alcohol
- Take a break from sports and physical exertion
- Expect that your teeth will be sensitive to heat and cold for a couple of weeks
- Contact a root canal dentist near you if you experience significant or worsening pain, bleeding, swelling and fever after surgery.
Root canal in Millwoods is painless and eliminates pain while halting infection and preserving teeth from being extracted unnecessarily. While considering what to do to get and stay healthy and how to respond to your dentist’s treatment recommendations, make sure you’re doing so with all the right information about root canals.
If you have any questions not answered here, be sure to contact a root canal dentist in Millwoods for advice about how to solve your teeth infections without losing teeth to extractions that aren’t necessary.