Root Canal Treatment Rockville MD

Your teeth aren’t hard all the way through. Inside, there is a soft portion called the “pulp.” When tooth decay goes untreated, it can break through to the pulp, allowing bacteria to get inside the tooth, where it can cause an infection.

That may be why root canals are still associated so much with pain; the toothache, difficulty chewing and/or swollen gums that send people to the dentist for a root canal can be decidedly painful. 

The more familiar name for an inner-tooth infection is “abscess.” Abscesses literally destroy the pulp inside a tooth, which can pose problems far beyond the need for a root canal. In fact, if an abscess is left untreated, the infection can weaken the immune system, allowing the infection to spread to areas such as the sinuses and even the heart.

Far from being the horrible thing popular culture might lead you to believe, root canals are something of a modern miracle. In times gone by, if an abscess was allowed to develop, the odds of saving the tooth were rather slim; removing the tooth would be the only option available.

By performing a root canal, a dentist can save a tooth that is on the brink of being lost.

When performing a root canal, your dentist will drill through the enamel and dentin layers of your tooth and break through to a chamber containing material that includes nerves and blood vessels—the pulp of the tooth. This chamber reaches all the way down through the tooth root. At this point, the pulp, along with the infect portion of it, is removed. The chamber running through the root—the root canal—is then thoroughly cleaned out and prepared to be filled with a sterile substance that lends support to the tooth, allowing it to remain, once the infection has been removed.

Once the sterile material is in place, the hole that was drilled in the tooth is sealed with a filling. Should your dentist decide that more support is needed, or that extra protection for the tooth will be best for the long term, he or she will discuss the option of putting a crown on the tooth.

Please keep in mind that not all dentists have the skills of an endodontist. We confidently offer root canals at StarBrite dental because we have a highly experienced endodontic specialist on staff, who has an excellent track record in root canal procedures. The special skills an endodontist has perfected, include: 

1. Finding the right tooth. Swollen gums might react to pressure on more than one tooth. Determining the right one takes experience and skill.
2. Determining where to drill. The inside chamber of a tooth is small; selecting the right drilling angle is key.
3. Cleaning thoroughly. Most teeth have two root canals leading off the inner chamber; some have more. Making sure each canal has been located, and that every nook and cranny of it has been cleaned thoroughly, requires exacting attention.

If a dentist tells you that he or she would like to perform a root canal, don’t be afraid to ask his or her level of experience with the procedure. If it’s not something your dentist does on a regular basis, with a good amount of success, do yourself a favor and request a referral to an endodontic specialist. That doesn’t make your dentist a bad dentist; it just makes you a careful consumer of dental services. Who knows? You may find yourself right here at StarBrite Dental, and we’ll be glad to see you.

Despite what old movies and TV shows might lead you to believe, dentists are not in the tooth-pulling business. We’re in the tooth-saving business. Removing a tooth, rather than performing a root canal, can put you in the position of trading one problem for a different problem.

Your teeth rely on one another in order to stay in the correct position. Take a tooth away, and the teeth on either side of it can begin to drift, knocking your bite out of alignment.

A chief benefit of the root canal procedure is that it turns an infected tooth back into a viable tooth, allowing it to stay in place and do its job of supporting neighboring teeth. Were the tooth removed, additional work would have to be done in order to fill the gap with an artificial tooth.