Welcome back to Dentist Camberwell’s part 2 of Root Canal Treatment. Today we will be sharing what is involved in having a root canal treatment and the advantages and disadvantages.What does root canal treatment involve?
Dr Matthew Fleming, at Hartwell Dentistry, has completed futher studies involving root canal treatment, and is also a member of the Australian Society of Endodontics.
When coming to Hartwell Dentistry, you may require one or more visits to complete the root canal treatment, depending on the tooth.
The infected tooth will be isolated by a rubber dam to prevent any contamination. An opening is made in the crown (the top) of the tooth into the area where the nerve is found. The infected and damaged nerve is removed from the tooth using a special drill. The canal is then cleaned and disinfected, and medication is put into the area to help the infection. A temporary restoration is then placed in the tooth to help protect it until the following visit. Some patients may only be required to take antibiotics to help prevent and ease the infection. In some cases, due to the dead nerve the tooth may become discoloured and you may choose to have the tooth internally whitened. The next visit usually includes removing the temporary restoration and cleaning out the medication. The root canal is the filled and sealed with a long lasting material.
Your final visit to Hartwell Dentistry, is then completed by placing a crown or restoration over the tooth to help protect the tooth.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Here at Hartwell Dentistry, we believe a major advantage to having root canal treatment is for your health and also you are saving the tooth from the possibility of extraction.
A tooth that requires root canal treatment will only become more painful if not treated and the procedure is relatively painless, some postoperative pain is experienced for 1 – 5 days.
The disadvantages of having a root canal treatment is that in rare cases the infection may not have been completely removed during the first procedure and the inflammation may flare up again, resulting in the treatment to be redone.
The alternative to having root canal treatment is for the damaged tooth to be extracted. However this may also result in the need to then replace the tooth with a bridge or implant, ultimately costing more than the root canal treatment.