A root canal is a channel of soft dental pulp, containing nerves and blood vessels, which goes from the root of the tooth right down to the bottom of the crown (the parts of the tooth you can see in your mouth). There can be additional root canal in each tooth.

What is root canal treatment?

If your root canal becomes infected, most commonly due to tooth decay, you are left with two options. The first is to extract the tooth, which, as you can imagine, could completely ruin your smile. The second is root canal treatment from Dublin18 Dental Care near Leopardstown.

Root canal treatment involves the dentist drilling into your tooth and removing any dead or diseased pulp from within. Although that may sound intimidating, local anaesthetic is used, so you won’t feel a thing and your dentist will make sure that you are comfortable throughout the treatment. If necessary, your dentist may put some medicine inside the cavity to ensure that all the bacteria is gone. The now empty cavity is then filled up, most commonly with a rubber like substance called gutta percha and the tooth is sealed with a crown or a filling to stop bacteria entering the tooth again.

As the anaesthetic wears off you may experience pain or discomfort in the affected tooth. This is normal and can be remedied with painkillers. You will then have to go for checkups annually, so your dentist can check that everything is going smoothly.

It is well worth getting root canal treatment if you are a suitable candidate, as it is always better to save a tooth than deal with losing one.