Root Canals & Endodontics

Do you have specific teeth that hurt? You may have a cavity that has spread to your tooth’s nerve, causing an infection…

“Endo” is Greek for inside while, “odont” is greek for tooth. Endodontists are dentists who specialize in saving your natural teeth. By looking inside the infected tooth, at the dental pulp and tissues that surround the roots of a tooth, they deal with the removal of infected nerves. However, root canal therapy and procedures range in degrees of difficulties and most general dentists still do the ones that are not overly complicated.

You’ll often need a root canal when you have an untreated cavity that spread the pulp of your tooth and causes infection in your nerves. If the infection is left untreated it can turn into an abscess (a more serious issue that can result in bone loss in the jaw).

There is the stigma that a root canal is a painful, agonizing procedure when in actuality, root canal therapy is given to relieve the pain the patient is suffering from. 

• The benefits of the procedure will alleviate the pain caused by the infected tooth.
• In most cases, advances in dental technology, local anesthetics and the right aftercare pain medication allow the surgery to be done with minimal pain.

Like most routine dental procedures there may be some soreness after but ultimately once this pain subsides, you will feel relief from the infection and be able to enjoy your day-to-day life without the pain you previously felt from the infection.

Have more questions? Not sure if you need to undergo root canal therapy?

Schedule a free consultation with us and Dr. Alethawy will go over your options and recommended procedures with you.