A root canal is needed when there has been terminal damage to the tooth’s nerve.This can occur for many reasons but most commonly it is due to severe decay or a fracture to a tooth. Typically, there is deep, throbbing, and aching pain associated with this dental disease however it is not uncommon to experience little to no pain at all. In fact, many patients say that the pain they were experiencing was so severe that it would either prevent them from falling asleep or wake them from sleep. If you are experiencing symptoms that align with this description then you may need a root canal.

The root canal process can be very confusing and has been tainted by horror stories over the years.  However, this treatment modality is in fact very predictable and is typically nothing like the stories you’ve heard. Root canals can be best explained by comparing your tooth to a pen.  When the procedure is completed, it is as if we took the ink out of the pen. The pen is still there, it just had the ink inside of it removed. Likewise, when a root canal procedure is completed, the tooth and root remain, however the inside of the tooth (where the nerve once resided) is filled with a biocompatible material.

Since the nerve and blood supply of the tooth has been removed, this causes the tooth to become very weak and brittle. That is why it is very common, except in some circumstances, for us to suggest placing a crown on the tooth to prevent the tooth from breaking in the future.