Symptoms You Need A Root Canal Treatment

Do you ever wonder why some patients get root canals while others have to undergo tooth extractions? While your preferences are essential in the types of treatment and procedures you choose, they are not the only considerations. Some dental problems necessitate root canal treatments more than others.

What Is a Root Canal Treatment?

It is a dental procedure in endodontic dentistry concerned with treating the insides of teeth to restore a tooth’s health. Root canals focus on the internal health of teeth first before the rest of the tooth. Ideally, if the inner layers of teeth have a bacterial infection, the tooth cannot be optimally functional externally. Even then, dentists will evaluate the tooth’s structural elements to determine whether a root canal would be suitable for treating it.

A typical root canal procedure entails drilling the tooth enamel to access the tooth pulp and root cavity. The access hole allows the dentist to remove any infection from the tooth, along with damaged soft tissues, including nerve endings and blood vessels. After the cleaning process, a root canal dentist reshapes the insides of the tooth before filling it with a special material called gutta-percha. The dentist then seals the tooth with a dental filling to complete your treatment and restore the external structure of the tooth.

How Do You Know If You Need a Root Canal?

At Great Lakes Dental Associates, we ensure to educate our patients enough regarding the tell signs of any dental problem, so they know when to come in for treatment. However, understand that the only sure way to tell if you need a root canal procedure is through a comprehensive dental exam. Our dentists will examine and evaluate your oral health to determine the kind of dental problem you have. Our dentists ascertain that you need a root canal treatment only after an accurate diagnosis. Besides, many dental protocols can resolve similar oral problems. For example, tooth extraction and a root canal are viable solutions for tooth decay. It is up to a dentist to determine which treatment best fits your needs. As such, the dentist will consider the following factors to qualify you for a root canal:

1. The extent of infection or damage
2. Condition of the tooth structure

Signs That You May Need a Root Canal:

If you are keen to consider the root canal symptoms you experience, you will be on time to visit your dentist for treatment. Some of the reasons to need a root canal are:

1. A chipped or cracked tooth: after a traumatic injury in your mouth, your tooth may incur a crack, chip, or break. Although some cases may not be severe enough to damage the inner layers of your tooth, it happens to many patients. A crack or chip may extend the force of impact to internal layers of teeth, resulting in pain, numbness, or tingling sensations in your affected tooth.
2. Persistent toothache: a toothache is among the most common root canal symptoms in dentistry. It means your tooth is infected or damaged enough to tamper with the nerve endings. A persistent toothache does not go away with over-the-counter pain medication. The medication will only suppress the pain for a few hours while you contact a dentist near you for treatment.
3. Lingering sensitivity: a heightened sensitivity on your tooth triggers discomfort every time you eat or drink something too cold or too hot. The sensitivity implies tampering with the nerves in the internal layers of your tooth.
4. A darkened or discolored tooth: monitoring the color of your teeth enamels can help you determine whether you need a root canal procedure.
5. Swelling: whenever the gums swell, it communicates that your body’s immune system has detected an anomaly in your oral cavity. Typically, swelling in your gums means you have a lingering bacterial infection. It could also be your mouth’s response to dental pain.
6. Bump on the gum: while swelling is general in its effects on the gums, a bump is more specific to one part of your gum tissue. If the inflammation is isolated beneath a single tooth, you may have an abscessed tooth, meaning that a pus-filled pocket has formed at the tooth root.