Treating tooth decay is a common need in today’s world of dental health care. Fortunately, addressing it is often a conservative and minimally invasive process. After cleaning the cavity formed by the decay, your dentist may be able to fill it with biocompatible material, thus restoring the tooth’s health and integrity. However, tooth decay is different for everyone. In some cases, it can be more severe than a filling can successfully treat. In such cases, it may be time to decide on root canal treatment. As a more involved solution, root canal treatment is designed to remove tooth decay that’s reached the inner chambers of your tooth.
The state of your tooth’s internal infection
When a tooth is affected by mild or moderate decay, the size of the filling used to treat it depends on the size of the cavity in its main structure (known as dentin). However, when decay reaches the inner chamber of the tooth, called the pulp, it can immediately threaten all of the nerves, tissues, and blood vessels that reside within it. Because of this, treating internal infection requires removing all of the tissues within it, not just a portion of them.
What root canal treatment accomplishes
With root canal treatment, your dentist can successfully address your internal tooth infection by removing the nerves and tissues from within it. This includes cleaning out the inner canal of the tooth’s root, which connects to the pulp so the tissues can travel from the tooth to the jawbone structure. Removing these tissues and cleaning out your tooth’s inner pulp and root canal can stop the infection from growing any more severe and eroding any more of your tooth’s healthy, natural structure. By doing so promptly, you have a better chance of stopping severe decay before it leads to tooth loss, or the need to extract it.
Ensuring root canal treatment is the right option
When root canal treatment is needed, undergoing treatment as soon as possible can be vital to saving your tooth. However, preserving as much of your healthy, natural tooth structure as possible is equally important, which is why we take steps to ensure that root canal treatment is necessary. For example, if your tooth’s decay is still located within your tooth’s dentin and has not yet reached its inner chambers, then a tooth filling may save the tooth and prevent further infection.
Learn if you should consider root canal treatment
Root canal treatment could be the key to saving your tooth when it’s in the grips of a severe, internal infection. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Creekside Family Dental Care in Columbia, TN, today at (931) 388–3384.
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