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Dental FAQs from Harte Dental in Milton, MA
We are happy to answer questions about our services and procedures.
These are a selection of some common questions that patients have. If your question isn't answered here, please contact our office. It's important to us that our patients understand their dental care.
Root Canal Treatment
Understanding the process can often remove a great deal of the fear surrounding dental procedures. During a root canal, the goals of treatment are to stop the infection, prevent further damage, and relieve your pain.
We begin by making sure that you are numb and comfortable. The next step is to use special instruments to carefully and thoroughly clean out the infection from your tooth and remove the infected or damaged nerve. If necessary, we may place an antibiotic treatment to prevent re-infection.
The cavity in your tooth will be filled and sealed, and a crown may be placed. You may experience some soreness following the procedure as part of your body’s natural reaction to any type of perceived injury, but this will quickly fade and you will feel much better.
A dentist determines whether you need a root canal by reviewing your symptoms, examining the tooth and taking dental X-rays. The dentist may also test the tooth’s response to temperature, biting pressure or gentle tapping. A root canal may be recommended when the pulp—the soft tissue containing nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth—has become irreversibly inflamed, damaged or infected.
Possible signs include persistent tooth pain, pain when biting, lingering sensitivity to hot or cold, swelling, a pimple or bump on the gums, tooth discoloration, or a chipped or cracked tooth. However, an infected tooth does not always cause obvious symptoms. A dental examination and X-rays are necessary to determine whether root canal treatment is appropriate.
During root canal treatment, the tooth is numbed with local anesthesia. The inflamed or infected tissue is removed from inside the tooth, and the canals are carefully cleaned, disinfected, filled and sealed. A temporary or permanent restoration is then placed. Depending on the tooth, a dental crown may be recommended afterward to protect it from breaking and restore normal function. We receive a letter from the endodontist and schedule your beautiful crown appointment here!
Many root canal procedures take approximately 60 to 90 minutes, although treatment time varies according to the tooth and the complexity of its roots. Some teeth can be treated in one appointment, while others may require two or more visits. Molars, severe infections and teeth with complicated root anatomy may require additional time or treatment by an endodontist.
Modern root canal treatment is performed with local anesthesia, so most patients feel pressure or movement rather than sharp pain. The procedure is intended to relieve pain caused by an inflamed or infected tooth. Some tenderness or sensitivity when biting is common for several days afterward, but it should gradually improve. Contact your dentist if discomfort becomes severe, worsens or does not begin to resolve.
No. Harte Dental currently refers patients who need root canal treatment to trusted endodontist offices on the South Shore. We are exploring the possibility of adding a Harte Dental endodontic specialist in the future so patients can receive this specialized care within our practice.