When your body has an infection, you need to take care of it fast. Not only does it hurt, but it also can spread to other parts of your body. What begins as a simple infected cut can make your whole body suffer. Treatment at that stage is more involved and more expensive. Worse, you could be sick for a while.
An infection in your teeth is just as bad. Your enamel cannot be infected, but the pulp inside a tooth can. When this happens, it can be uniquely painful. You will need dental root canals treatment as soon as possible to not only relieve the pain but also protect you from a more serious infection.
When Root Canals Are Needed
Harmful bacteria can thrive in your mouth. They feed off particles of food left behind after you eat and drink. Then they secrete an acid that causes tooth decay. If they are not taken care of, they can eventually break through to your tooth’s pulp. This is where all of a tooth’s blood vessels and nerve endings are found. When bacteria gets in there, they can normally cause a bad toothache. Without root canals treatment, that infection will not only kill your tooth, it could spread through your bloodstream. An infected tooth isn’t just painful; it’s dangerous.
Your Toothache Could Mean Infection
The most common symptom of an infected tooth is a toothache. Since the pulp is where the nerve endings are found, any infection there can trigger them and cause pain. However, you can have a mild infection without having any pain. Other symptoms include sensitivity to hot or cold foods and tenderness in the gums around a specific tooth.
Root Canals Treatment Works
Root canals therapy has been around for a while. That means the procedure is fairly routine. First, we will thoroughly clean the area and use a local anesthetic to numb your tooth. Dr. Kirchner will then make a small hole in the enamel. Using a special tool, he will carefully remove the infected pulp. Then, he will fill in the space with gutta-percha. Finally, he will seal the tooth using a dental crown. The crown is made at our Jeffersonville, Indiana dentist office and looks like a healthy version of the tooth it covers. When the treatment is done, the infection — and the pain — are gone.
Gutta-Percha Repairs Teeth
Gutta-percha is a special material similar to rubber. It is completely inert, and your body will not have problems with it in your tooth. That means it’s great for replacing infected pulp. Without this replacement material, your tooth would be at a higher risk of reinfection, cracking, and even fracturing. Gutta-percha fills up the space so the tooth is as tough as natural.
Root Canals Are Not Painful
One of the biggest dental myths we hear regularly is that root canals treatment is very painful. That is simply not the case. Root canal pain is no worse than getting a cavity repaired with a filling. With local anesthetic and top-notch Jeffersonville, Indiana dentist Dr. Kirchner’s skill, you should have a very comfortable experience. In fact, not having a root canal when needed is definitely the more painful option.
An infected tooth will not get better on its own. Such infections do not simply go away. Instead, waiting to treat it can kill the tooth and allow the infection to spread. Root canals treatment is the only way to keep the tooth alive and healthy. Thankfully, modern root canals can be very easy on the patient. Call our trusted Jeffersonville, Indiana dentist today at 812-406-0914 or use our convenient online form for your next appointment.
