Carlsbad Dentist

It is the most feared dental treatment of all. Patients avoid going to their Carlsbad dentist because they don’t want to hear that they need a root canal. They would rather have the tooth extracted, removed forever, with a permanent space, than go thru the pain of a root canal. In reality, a root canal usually isn’t unpleasant and, in most examples, the agony associated with the tooth infection subsides in a matter of days after the treatment is complete. Be sure to ask your Carlsbad dentist any questions you may have.

Root canal treatment is necessary when the nerve tissue of the tooth, or pulp, gets infected or dies. The only real way to remove the infection is to remove the source of the infection, the infected or dead pulp tissue. There are 2 ways to remove pulp tissue. The number one way is to remove the entire tooth, and the pulp tissue includes it. The second easier way to get rid of infected pulp tissue is to perform root canal treatment. In this procedure your Carlsbad dentist removes the infected pulp tissue while leaving the rest of the tooth intact.

A root canal is what your Carlsbad dentist does to clean out and remove only the pulp tissue of the tooth. Your Carlsbad dentist will first give you anesthetic to numb the tooth, so you should be comfortable during the entire process. To maintain a dry field and make sure the pulp doesn’t become further polluted with saliva and other bacteria, your dentist will place a protective barrier round the tooth, known as a rubber dam, to isolate it and keep it clean. Once the tooth is isolated, your Carlsbad dentist will create an opening in the top of the tooth to use the pulp tissue. Then, using tiny files, your dentist will scrape the inside of the tooth and the walls of the pulp canal space to get rid of any infected or dead nerve tissue. Your dentist will repeat this part of the process several times with files of varying dimensions and shapes to get rid of an adequate amount of pulp tissue and adequately clean the nerve canal space.

To figure out how deep to go with each set of files, your Carlsbad dentist may employ a device called an apex locator. This machine tells your dentist how far to go with each file and when the file reaches the end of the canal.

Now that the canal spaces are cleaned and dry, the empty spaces need to be filled. A rubber material, called gutta percha, is placed in each canal to fill the void left by the pulp tissue. The access area your Carlsbad dentist made through the pinnacle of the tooth also must be filled. A silver amalgam or white composite restoration fills in the rest of the tooth. Ultimately, an enduring restoration wants to be made to protect the brittle tooth from splitting. Your Carlsbad dentist will make a crown for the tooth, a restoration made of metal alloys and stiff porcelain, to surround the tooth and protect it from breaking.