Root canal therapy in Mahogany rescues teeth from serious infection and from unnecessary extractions. Successful root canal therapy removes the nerve and infected material from the inside of your tooth but preserves the structure of your tooth. While the exterior structure of your tooth will remain intact, it’ll be weakened and vulnerable. To ensure the long-term health and function of that infection-free tooth, your dentist will place a crown over that tooth once you’ve fully recovered from your root canal treatment.
How do you know you might need a root canal?
There are four groups of symptoms that may, especially in combination, indicate that you have a serious tooth infection that may benefit from a root canal near you. Having said that, there are some situations when people with serious tooth infections experience very few symptoms and little pain. For that reason, seeing a dentist near you regularly is your best strategy for avoiding tooth infections requiring a root canal. Here is a cluster of signs that you may need a root canal.
Pain
Just because you have tooth pain doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a root canal, but it’s a really good sign that you should make an appointment with a dentist near you. Pain that may indicate the need for root canal therapy in Copperfield includes:
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A toothache that lingers and pulses
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Severe pain while you chew or when you place pressure on your teeth
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Pain that interrupts or prevents sleep
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Pain when you drink anything hot or cold
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Pain that seems to pop up out of nowhere without warning, and that may be constant or intermittent.
Swollen and tender gum tissue
Like tooth pain, swelling and tenderness in your gums can indicate dental issues other than a root canal. Gum-related symptoms specifically associated with the need for gum disease include:
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Prolonged and significant (as opposed to brief and minor) swelling
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Anything that looks like a pimple or a boil on your gums
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Pimples on your gums that seem to keep coming back
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If it looks like the tooth near your swollen and tender gums looks taller than your other teeth
Bad breath and abscesses
As the infection takes hold and spreads inside your tooth, those multiplying bacteria emit odours that can turn your breath foul. Not even mouthwash will keep the halitosis associated with the need for a root canal at bay. That same serious infection can also produce abscesses in your tooth and gums. In the mirror, those abscesses might look like pimples but they’ll increase in size due to the accumulation of pus that may eventually drain into your mouth, producing a foul taste and smell.
Changes to the colour of the infected tooth
There are many factors that can change the colour of your teeth, but most of them will affect your teeth generally — not individual teeth in isolation from the others. If you notice that one tooth is changing colour — but not its neighbours — this may indicate a reduction in blood flow into and through that tooth due to a serious infection. By the time a tooth has begun to change colour, any infection inside that tooth has become very serious. Unless treated immediately, that infection will kill the nerve in your tooth.
What about costs?
One question we regularly receive from patients investigating root canal therapy in Mahogany is what the procedure will cost. Because every patient’s circumstances are different, it’s impossible to provide even a general quotation in an article like this. If you are concerned about the costs of treatment and how to reduce costs, please discuss the costs of root canal therapy in Copperfield with a dentist near you. Ask your dentist about options for reducing those costs, including things like: shopping around for the best prices from qualified dentists; the availability of payment plans; and whether they accept insurance if you have access to benefits.
Of course, the best way to reduce the cost of a root canal is to eliminate the need for a root canal by preventing the development of infections in the first place. For advice about best practices when it comes to oral hygiene and preventative treatment, make an appointment with a dentist near you.