Even though you may have never had root canal therapy, chances are just the mentioning of those words makes you feel uncomfortable. But root canal therapy isn’t any more painful than a filling and it isn’t something to avoid, especially if you have a condition that causes you pain, discomfort or makes eating the foods you love not as enjoyable as they should be.
Root canal therapy is a minor procedure that helps to restore dental health and can prevent oral infections worsening and spreading throughout your teeth and gums. What’s more, if you’re not eating properly because of sensitive or painful teeth, chances are you’re not getting your dietary requirements either, so it may also help with your overall health.
Signs You Need Root Canal Therapy
There are many signs that you could require a root canal procedure, most of which are issues that affect ‘dental pulp’, which is the soft pulp at the centre of your teeth below the enamel coating that extends to the roots of your teeth. As this is where nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue are located, when the pulp is exposed to foreign matter (food and drinks) they can become infected by bacteria and cause you significant pain.
If a tooth sustains damage, for example it’s cracked or a cavity develops, bacteria enters the dental pulp, causes an infection and can kill nerves, cause bone loss and result in the loss of the tooth. The longer this goes untreated, the greater the chance you’ll need a root canal, if not more extensive dental work. The signs that you may need a root canal include:
- Visible signs damage to a tooth, like chips, cracked teeth, cavities or holes in teeth
- Exposed nerves due to damage to the tooth or when crowns or fillings fall out
- Discoloured or darkened teeth
- Blisters or abscesses that look like small pimples on the gum around the tooth
- Severe pain while putting pressure on the tooth when chewing
- Extreme sensitivity or pain when eating or drinking hot or cold food or drinks
- Tender or swollen gums around the tooth area, swelling around the jaws.
If you notice any of the above signs, root canal therapy or another dental treatment may be required. Not all tooth pain and sensitivity issues need root canal therapy, and depending on your options, other treatments may be available to you.
At Mango Hill Dental in North Lakes, our dentists take pride in making root canal therapy as painless as possible for our patients and offer a range of crown and filling options to suit your preferences and budget. Local anaesthesia is used and you’re unlikely to experience any more discomfort than having a filling, though the site may be tender for a few days.
To book a root canal consultation with one of our dental specialists at Mango Hill dental, please contact us online or call us on 07 3482 2209.