How Long Do Root Canals Last?

Root canal treatment helps prevent a tooth from being removed if it has infected or inflamed dental pulp. The Pearland dentist can preserve your natural tooth for years or decades by removing the pulp, cleaning, shaping, and disinfecting the canals to relieve the excruciating pain you experience from the infected tooth.

Root canals have a fearsome reputation as a painful procedure to make people think getting the tooth removed is a better option than going through this tooth-saving therapy. Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, people fail to understand tooth removal by itself doesn’t provide relief from their concerns, making them vulnerable to seeking replacement solutions for the missing teeth at high prices.

How Painful Is Root Canal Treatment?

In the days gone past when anesthetics had not developed, root canals were extremely painful and avoided by most people. Fortunately, dentistry advances now make different anesthesia options for patients to receive root canal Pearland painlessly by getting local, intravenous, and oral conscious sedation when the dentist in Pearland performs this painful procedure on their infected tooth. As a result, people will likely experience no pain when the dentist works in their mouth but can expect moderate discomfort when recovering from the root canal procedure.

Dentists know about the discomfort patients experience after receiving root canals to eradicate infections within their teeth. Therefore dentists prescribe or recommend appropriate pain relievers to help patients recover quickly without significant discomfort. In reality, many people report root canals are no more painful than having a cavity filled in the tooth.

What Are the Three Stages of Root Canal Treatment?

People suffering from excruciating pain in a specific tooth with indicators pointing towards needing endodontic therapy must realize the treatment is performed in stages, aiming to remove the infected pulp from the tooth for pain relief and to save the natural tooth.

The dentist in Pearland doesn’t begin the procedure merely by looking at the affected tooth. Instead, they x-ray the tooth to determine the damage’s severity before recommending root canals as the optimal technique to preserve the tooth. The dentist also enquires into the patient’s dental and medical history and asks about any medications they take that might interact with the anesthesia provided when performing root canals.

After scheduling the surgery, the dentist near Pearland explains the different treatment steps with the costs. If the patient accepts the proposal and decides to proceed with the treatment, the dentists work in the patient’s mouth in three stages.

1. The first stage of performing a root canal involves providing anesthesia to numb the affected tooth and placing rubber dams to isolate the tooth, keeping it free from contamination by saliva and preventing the risk of tiny instruments used by dentists from falling down the patient’s throat. The professional cleans the tooth from within, removing the infected dental pulp using small flexible files. After cleaning the tooth’s interiors, the dentist disinfects the tooth with antibacterial solutions to eliminate any excess bacteria in the tooth. Next, dentists might place antibiotics in the tooth and place biocompatible rubber-like fillings in the root canals with adhesives. Finally, the entry hole created in the tooth’s crown is filled with a temporary filling to protect the tooth from further infections until the patient recovers from the procedure to receive a permanent filling or a dental crown.
2. The patient can revisit the dentist after a week of completing the first stage in some cases if they have multiple canals in the tooth or need endodontic treatment on a back tooth. The second stage involves thoroughly cleaning the root canals to eradicate any remaining bacteria inside the tooth. Dentists also measure the root canal length, ensuring they fill it after cleaning to prevent reinfection.
3. The patient must visit the dentist for an examination to determine if the infection within the tooth is controlled without signs of soreness or discomfort in the mouth for a permanent filling or crown placement.

After getting the tooth fixed with a permanent restoration, patients must continue caring for the treated tooth to ensure they never develop dental pulp infections by cleaning their mouth appropriately, receiving treatments for dental infections without ignoring them, and getting half yearly dental cleanings from the Pearland dentist without exceptions.

With proper care and dental hygiene, patients can expect root canals to last for a lifetime after receiving this fearsome but pain-relieving treatment.

Harmony dental — Pearland performs numerous root canals, delivering successful results to patients approaching them with excruciating pain in a specific tooth. Patients affected by dental infections can contact this facility to determine whether they need root canals to eradicate infections from within their tooth to preserve it.