How is a root canal treatment performed?
It often begins with a toothache that doesn’t go away. At Swedish Dental, we naturally want to help you with the pain as quickly as possible. We can often offer help on the same day.
When you visit us, a dentist will receive you for a thorough examination. We must diagnose which tooth is aching and causing your problems. The examination is also important to rule out other diagnoses. It’s not always a tooth that causes toothache, as one might think. Sometimes the pain can be due to other causes, such as pain in the jaw muscles.
Once we have determined that a tooth is causing your discomfort, we will anesthetize you. The dentist then opens the tooth to the nerve. During an emergency visit, a soothing agent is applied to the tooth, and a temporary filling is placed.
After the emergency visit, you will return to have the tooth thoroughly cleaned and prepared for a root canal filling. In some cases, we perform the root canal on the same day we clean the root canals themselves.
Once the tooth has been root-filled, we usually recommend a crown on the tooth, as these often have significant damage. Extensive damage to the tooth structure requires treatment with a dental crown for the best prognosis. In some cases, we may also need to treat with a post if there is too little tooth structure remaining for treatment with only a dental crown.