What Your Dentist Can Tell You About Endodontics

Endodontic Surgery Park Ridge, IL

Endodontics is a dental specialty that focuses on preventing, diagnosing, and treating issues that affect teeth pulp. The most common endodontic treatment used by dentists is root canal therapy. This procedure is often used to save teeth with damaged pulp tissues.

Questions to ask your dentist about endodontics

A dentist might recommend endodontics to treat a decayed, damaged, or infected tooth. The visible part of teeth has three distinct layers: enamel, dentin, and pulp chamber. The enamel is the strongest part of the body, and it is designed to handle stress and the acids made by oral bacteria. It protects the more delicate dentin and pulp chamber.

Teeth enamel can be compromised by acids eating and demineralizing it or trauma to a tooth chipping it off. Enamel being compromised makes it easier for decay to break down the dentin and the pulp chamber. The pulp chamber contains a tooth’s blood vessels and nerves, and it is sealed off from the rest of the tooth to protect it from bacteria and the acids that they make.

Once that seal is broken, the nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues in the pulp chamber become vulnerable to infection. A root canal might be recommended to help prevent or treat issues caused by a compromised pulp chamber, like an infection. Questions that patients should consider asking their dentist about when treatments like root canals are recommended include the following. 

1. What are the other options?

A root canal is typically the best option for teeth with compromised pulp chambers. The procedure can be used to prevent or treat an infection. It also treats any toothaches caused by the soft tissues in the pulp chamber being exposed to acids and bacteria in the mouth.

A tooth infection is not a dental issue that will go away on its own if left untreated. Instead, it will continue spreading, and it can reach vital organs like the heart and brain, where it can be life-threatening. The only alternative to a root canal is extracting the tooth, but dentists often use that treatment as a last resort, when there is a severe risk of the infection spreading to other parts of the body.

2. How painful are endodontic treatments like root canals?

Local anesthetics are administered during root canal therapy, so patients do not feel pain during the treatment. Any pain that the patient was dealing with before the procedure is typically relieved by the time that the procedure is over. Any discomfort experienced afterward can often be treated with over-the-counter painkillers.

3. How should I prepare for endodontic therapy?

Root canal therapy does not require much preparation on the patient’s part besides coming into the clinic with an empty stomach and cleaning their teeth before their appointment. Patients should also avoid drinking alcohol before the procedure.

Our dentist saves teeth

Endodontics can help save damaged, decayed, and infected teeth. Give us a call or stop by our Park Ridge clinic to set up an appointment with our dentist.

Request an appointment here: https://www.signaturesmilesparkridge.com or call Signature Smiles of Park Ridge at (224) 217-5400 for an appointment in our Park Ridge office.

Check out what others are saying about our dental services on Yelp: Endodontic Surgery in Park Ridge, IL.

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