Carlsbad Dentist

It is the most feared dental treatment of all. Patients avoid going to their Carlsbad dentist because they do not want to hear that they need a root canal. They would rather have the tooth removed, removed forever, with a permanent space, than go through the agony of a root canal. In truth, a root canal usually isn’t painful and, in most instances, the discomfort associated with the tooth infection subsides in a matter of days after the treatment is complete.

Root canal treatment is needed when the nerve tissue of the tooth, or pulp, gets infected or dies. The only way to get rid of 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 first way is to get rid of the whole tooth, and the pulp tissue incorporates it. The second smarter way to get rid of infected pulp tissue is to perform root canal treatment. In this procedure your Carlsbad dentist takes away the infected pulp tissue while leaving the remainder of the tooth intact.

A root canal is what a Carlsbad dentist does to clean out and remove only the pulp tissue of the tooth. Your dentist will first give you anesthetic to numb the tooth, so you should be comfortable in the complete procedure. To maintain a dry field and make sure the pulp doesn’t become further contaminated with saliva and other bacteria, your Carlsbad dentist will place a protective barrier around the tooth, known as a rubber dam, to isolate it and keep it clean. Once the tooth is isolated, your dentist will create an opening in the top of the tooth to access 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 remove 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 a sufficient amount of pulp tissue and adequately clean the nerve canal space.

To determine 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 have 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 dentist made thru the pinnacle of the tooth also needs to be filled. A silver amalgam or white composite restoration fills in the rest of the tooth. Eventually, a permanent restoration needs to be made to defend the crisp tooth from splitting. Your Carlsbad dentist will make a crown for the tooth, a restoration made from metal alloys and stiff porcelain, to enclose the tooth and protect it from breaking.