You have probably heard of root canals but have you ever heard of endodontics?
Endodontics is a Greek word and it means inside the tooth. You might not believe this but endodontics is actually just another word for root canal, albeit a scientific one. The American Dental Association (ADA) recognizes it as one of nine dental specialties that is purely focused on the inside of your tooth.
In the past, root canals have usually caused patients to either cringe or have the opposite reaction and wonder what the big deal is. While root canals may have had a bad rap previously, you might want to rethink how you feel about them. Consider this. Before the creation of endodontics, if you had a tooth with a nerve that was diseased you would have lost that tooth, painfully at that. But today dentists can do a special procedure, which removes the diseased tissue inside of the tooth. This way you save your tooth and prevent having to get that tooth extracted.
What happens when you don’t undergo an endodontic treatment?
Well to understand that, you need to first understand what goes on in each tooth. Simply put, teeth are composed of three layers, which are a hard protective layer, a sensitive middle layer and a soft inner layer. This inner layer is called a pulp. This pulp is important to your teeth because it provides both nutrients and nerves to each one of your teeth. Sometimes this pulp gets diseased or injured from being fractured or bacteria and after awhile the tooth dies. And if you don’t remove a dead issue, your tooth will get infected and then your dentist will need to extract it. The good news is that once he or she performs an endodontic procedure, your tooth should be in good shape.
What’s involved in an endodontic procedure?
You may be surprised to learn that a root canal is a relatively simple procedure, that can take just a few visits and may be less painful, if at all, then you think. The procedure involves the dentist going in and disinfecting the infected tooth and also removing various tissues, bacteria and the infection. They will also make sure to prevent pain and infection from happening again by treating the tooth.
So if you ever experience symptoms such as tooth pain or discoloration or having a swollen or aggravated gum, you should head over to your dentist and find out if you need an endodontic treatment. It could save your tooth.
|
