The Truth Behind Root Canals

October 31, 2020

Written by Dr. Cameron Ho DDS, Greenboro Dental

Just in time for Halloween I thought it’d be a good time for us to tackle and clear up some common misconceptions about the spooky two words in dentistry…👻Root Canals👻. There’s nothing like the look, feel, and function of a natural tooth. However cavities, trauma, injury, and infections can affect the beauty of your teeth. Thanks to the latest technology we have in root canal therapy at Greenboro Dental, we can repair and save your teeth in a fast and comfortable manner.

Root canal treatment alleviates tooth infections and inflammation in the nerve(s) of your tooth. While dental implants are great options that have come a long way since their introduction, root canal treatments are a predictable, cost effective treatment that can save your natural teeth and keeps you smiling. The alternative to eliminate the infection and/or inflammation in the infected tooth is to extract it, but that leads to its own consequences and additional procedures that we’ll be covering in a future blog post.

So together, let’s debunk the scary two words of dentistry and show you how root canals can be as easy and comfortable as navigating the canals in Venice.

What exactly is a root canal?

Root canal treatment is a type of endodontic procedure designed to help save your natural teeth by removing a tooth’s pulp (nerve) by cleaning, shaping, disinfecting, and finally sealing the root with specialized filling material. A tooth is composed of two main parts: the crown (part of the tooth you see when you smile) and the root embedded in the gums. A common misconception is that a root canal involves removing the root of the tooth which is false. We are keeping the natural root embedded in the gums and instead cleaning out the tooth’s infected pulp (kind of like if you were getting surgery to repair a damaged nerve in your hand I would hope the surgeon isn’t chopping your hand off to repair a tiny nerve in your finger) and sealing it up so that no bacteria can cause infection again. 

How would I know that I need a root canal?

Whether you’re an existing patient at our dental practice in South Keys or a new/walk in emergency dental patient, we always recommend coming in for a consultation first. A lot of things may feel like you need a root canal, but after a careful examination and specialized testing it may be found that there’s something else causing your discomfort that’s easily fixed without root canal treatment.

Below are some of the common signs and symptoms that you may need root canal treatment and should schedule an appointment with us:

• Intense toothache or discomfort when eating or biting

• Severe (think greater than half the tooth) tooth fracture

• Discolouration or darkening of a tooth

• Spontaneous pain from your teeth (example: A spontaneous toothache or tooth pain that wakes you up at night)

• Throbbing ache that radiates around a tooth or multiple teeth

• Pimple or swelling around your gums

Can I just take antibiotics to clear the infection?

Another common misconception is that by taking an antibiotic like penicillin you can get rid of the infection and avoid a root canal. While systemic antibiotics can be a valuable adjunct we use alongside root canal treatment to clear dental infections, because they work systemically they only reduce the number of bacteria and are unfortunately unable to completely clear a tooth infection. The tooth itself is the source of the infection and continually producing more bacteria, so until the tooth is either root canal treated or extracted the bacteria will continue to reproduce and eventually rear their ugly head again to ruin your day.

What should you expect during a root canal procedure?

The truth is, thanks to the new technology and techniques we employ at our clinic a root canal can be as simple as doing a filling and completed safely and efficiently in as little as 45 minutes for a front tooth! If fillings aren’t something that you (hopefully) don’t get nervous about, then root canal treatment isn’t something to lose sleep over either. And don’t worry, at Greenboro Dental our staff is always ready to walk you through and explain any and all treatment whether it’s Invisalign, dental implants, or root canals! Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect: 

1. Dr. Cameron Ho and the Greenboro Dental team will examine your teeth and test individual teeth to assess for signs of infection. Part of this assessment will involve taking an X-Ray to evaluate the anatomy of the tooth (remember we’re working primarily in the roots of the teeth which we can’t see since they’re hidden behind your gums and bone!) and trace the infection

2. Depending on the size of the infection, sometimes we will perform a drainage with local anesthetic (same “freezing” you get for a filling appointment) of the area and prescribe antibiotics to help decrease the infection before we operate

3. Dr. Ho will administer local anesthetic to the area to ensure you are numb and don’t feel anything during the procedure

4. Once you are numb, a dental dam will be placed around your tooth that we are working on. A dental dam is a protective sheath that helps us isolate the tooth and ensure no bacteria from your saliva gets into the tooth and that our disinfectant we use to kill the bacteria is not swallowed by you

5. We then make a tiny micro opening in your tooth to get assess to the pulp and nerve tissue and use specialized, fine instruments to carefully remove the infected tissue and clear away the infection

6. We then place a filling inside the now hollow root with gutta-percha which is a rubber like specialized root filling material

7. We then place a filling to cover the micro opening we made

8. Depending on the tooth condition the final step is to restore the tooth with a dental crown to protect the tooth and restore its full function. After a root canal is done, a tooth loses its moisture as it no longer has any blood or fluid flowing through it and is now filled with gutta percha. As a result, the tooth is more susceptible to breaking. An analogy I like to use is freshly baked cookies. When you bake cookies and you take them fresh out of the oven they’re soft and bend easily without crumbling. However, if you throw these cookies into your fridge and wait a day what happens if you try to bend them? The cookie will snap/crumble and that’s because it’s been dried out in the fridge and sapped of its moisture. This is similar to what we see with root canal treated teeth and why we may recommend protecting them with a full coverage crown.  

What comes after?

Go home and relax! More often than not you’ll be still be numb from the local anesthetic, but be sure to follow any post procedure instructions given to you by Dr. Ho or the Greenboro Dental team.

How much does it cost?

The average cost of a root canal can range between $500-$1300 at our clinic and is covered under most dental benefits (insurance) plans. Our team will always try to electronically send a pre-determination to your dental benefits provider so that you know how much you are covered for. Certain plans however will not give us a pre-determination in which case our team will print you out the exact tooth and dental procedure code associated with the root canal treatment so you may follow up with your benefits provider to find out your coverage. The price differs due to various factors as every tooth is unique in its own special way and can depend on:

1. How severe the infection is

2. The location and condition of the tooth. If for example we are doing a root canal through an existing crown this may have a higher cost than a tooth that does not have a crown on it as we will have to be even more precise and devote more time to the procedure to ensure we do as little damage to the dental crown as possible to avoid having to make you a new one.

3. If it’s the first time the tooth is being root canal treated or if it’s a retreatment (doing a root canal a second time). It’s important to note that retreatments can be more complex and definitely have a higher risk involved so our team will go through the diagnosis with you and may recommend seeing one of the great Endodontists (root canal specialists) we work closely with!

Whew…well I think that’s enough dentistry for one blog post and I wish you and your family and friends a Happy Halloween!