Root Canal San Francisco

Treatment is needed for infected or inflamed pulp

The pulp is soft tissue inside the tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves. When the pulp becomes infected or inflamed, root canal treatment is needed. Pulp infection and inflammation most often occur if you have:

• a cracked or chipped tooth

• a deep cavity or filling

• other serious injury to the tooth

Any of these can allow bacteria to enter the pulp and cause infection and/or inflammation.

Removing but not replacing a tooth can create problems

When a tooth is removed and not replaced, the teeth around it may shift. This can make it hard to bite, chew and clean your teeth. Areas in your mouth that are not cleaned well are more likely to have problems like decay or gum disease. Root canal therapy can prevent these problems by saving your natural tooth. Also, root canal therapy is usually less expensive than a replacement tooth. 

General steps of root canal therapy

Root canal therapy may involve one or more dental visits. We may potentially perform the necessary steps to save your tooth:

1. Your tooth is numbed for your comfort. A thin, flexible sheet of latex or non-latex material called a rubber dam is placed over your tooth to keep it dry. An opening is made through the crown of the tooth into the pulp chamber.

2. Your tooth’s nerve or pulp is removed from the pulp chamber and the canal of each root of the tooth. Each root canal is cleaned, shaped and disinfected so that it can be filled.

3. Your dentist may place medicine in the pulp chamber and root canal(s) to help treat the infection.

4. The treated root canals are filled with a rubber-like material to seal them.

5. A temporary filling is placed in your tooth to prevent infection of the root canals. You may be given antibiotics if the infection has spread beyond the end of the root(s).

6. Finally, your dentist removes the temporary filling and restores the tooth with a crown or a permanent filling to strengthen it and improve the way it looks. If an endodontist performs the procedure, they usually recommend that you return to your general dentist for this step.

It is very important to follow instructions from your dental team and to attend all of your follow-up appointments.

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