Inside your tooth there is a pulp which houses the nerve and blood supply to the tooth. Occasionally because of decay, small cracks in the tooth, or trauma to the tooth, the pulp inside a tooth can become inflamed and infected. If the pulp of the tooth should become infected, the tooth will need to have root canal therapy to save the tooth. Despite all the bad things you may have heard about root canals, most patients experience no pain when having the procedure done. The procedure includes numbing the tooth and surrounding tissue, isolating the tooth to keep moisture and medicaments out of the tooth area and patients mouth, gentle removal of pulp tissue from within the canals of the tooth, cleaning of the canal spaces, shaping of the canals spaces, filling of the canals with a medicine and covering the opening of the tooth with a conventional filling.

Many times after the tooth has undergone root canal treatment, the tooth structure is compromised and a crown is necessary to protect the remaining tooth. If you have the root canal done at an endodontist (also known as a dentist who specializes in root canals), you will need to go back to your general dentist to have the tooth restored. Some front teeth only need a filling after the root canal has been done, while most back teeth generally require a crown.

The anatomy of every tooth is slightly different. Some are straight, some are curved, some are skinny while others are bulky. The anatomy of your tooth dictates how involved the root canal therapy will be. In most cases, Dr. Kym will do root canal therapy here at the office, but occasionally she may refer some cases to an endodontist (root canal specialist) depending on the difficulty of the case.

A consultation with Dr. Kym is necessary to determine if root canal therapy is necessary and if it can be completed here.