What Should You Expect If You Need an Emergency Root Canal?

Posted on: 17 May 2017

Share

On a scale of one to ten, dental pain is a resounding ten. Many times this will prompt you to make an emergency visit to a dentist, and often, significant pain is caused by the formation of a tooth abscess. You may not be looking forward to hearing about a needed root canal, but may nevertheless be preparing yourself. What do you need to know about this process?

Initial Analysis

The first step is, of course, to have a complete inspection done by your general dentist. Depending on the nature of the work that needs to be done, this may be scheduled out to an endodontist for the actual root canal, or the procedure may be done by the general dentist themselves. Temporary work will probably be done on the first visit to help with the infection and the pain.

Starting the Procedure

When you have the root canal itself, some local anaesthesia will be introduced so that you don't feel anything. The next step is the placement of the rubber dam, which contains a latex sheet to protect the area from contamination during the procedure. The dentist will then open the top of the tooth and remove the pulp inside, which will get rid of the source of the infection. This area will then be cleansed using sodium hypochlorite to disinfect the various canals inside the tooth.

Cleaning and Filing

Next, it'll be necessary to clean up the walls of the tooth using small files so that any remaining infection attached to the wall is eliminated and the area is ready to receive the filling. X-rays can help the dentist to file the roots properly, as well as to clean out the individual canals successfully.

Sealing and Replacing

Once this has all been done, a special type of paste is introduced to the root canals to seal tem. Then, it'll be necessary to introduce a small titanium post to the area, which will form the base for the top filling. The filling itself will normally take the form of a crown, which will need to be created in the lab first. A temporary one will likely be put in, while this is being done.

Tried and Tested

This sounds like a complicated procedure, but it is very common and effective at controlling this sort of infection and providing relief. Once it is all complete and the area has been allowed to recover, make sure that you exercise good hygiene and clean the area carefully every day.

Now that you know what to expect, schedule your visit right away to get rid of that nagging pain!