A dental procedure cleaning out the decay in your dental pulp and root is called a root canal. Your teeth comprise an enamel layer on the exterior, another layer of dentin, and a soft center that extends to the root in your jawbone. The soft center contains the dental pulp consisting of nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue.
When tooth decay gets to the soft center of the tooth, the dental pulp becomes inflamed and infected or even necrotic. In such cases, you require root canal treatment to clean out the decay.
How would you know whether you need a root canal? Please continue reading to learn more about the symptoms indicating you might need this treatment.
What Are Root Canals?
Root canal procedures involve cleaning the decay in your tooth to preserve it. During a root canal procedure, our dentist in Pearland extracts bacteria and pollution from the dental pulp and nerve. The area is disinfected with antibiotics, and fillings are placed in the empty sockets. Finally, your tooth is sealed to prevent further decay.
The root canal procedure preserves your natural tooth and prevents further decay. However, it makes the tooth fragile, needing a dental crown for protection.
Symptoms Indicating You Need a Root Canal
The best way to know whether you need a root canal is to visit our dental clinic near you. However, there are warning signs that you can watch for. If you notice any symptoms described below, you must see your dentist as soon as possible. Treating the tooth right away delivers better outcomes.
1. Persistent Pain
One of the signs indicating you need a root canal is a persistent pain in a specific tooth. The pain in the tooth might bother you constantly or might go away for some time only to return. You might experience the pain deep into the bone of your tooth or might feel radiating pain in your face, jaw, or other teeth.
Tooth pain has different causes besides needing a root canal. Other causes include gum disease, a cavity, radiating pain from sinus infections or other problems, damaged fillings, and an impacted and infected tooth. Regardless of the cause, it is an excellent idea to see your dentist if you have persistent tooth pain.
2. Sensitivity To Temperatures
Do your teeth feel sensitive when eating warm food or having a cup of coffee? Perhaps your tooth feels sensitive when you eat ice cream or drink freezing water. The sensitivity might be dull or sharp. However, you might need a root canal in the sensitivity lingers for an extended period even after stopping eating or drinking.
3. Tooth Discoloration
Your tooth can become discolored from an infection in the pulp. Your tooth roots suffer damage from trauma or breakdown of internal tissue and give the tooth a greyish black appearance. Your dental pulp dies when it doesn’t receive sufficient blood supply to signal the need for root canal treatment.
4. Swollen Gums
Swollen gums near the affected tooth are signs of a problem that needs a root canal. The swelling doesn’t remain but might come and go. The swelling might be tender but not painful to touch. You might also have any pimples on your gum called an abscess. The abscess leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth besides bad breath and oozing pus.
5. Pain When Eating or Touching the Tooth
Tooth sensitivity when touching it or eating indicates signs of severe tooth decay or nerve damage needing a root canal treatment. In such cases, the sensitivity persists and doesn’t subside when you stop eating. You might experience hypersensitivity from the dying pulp because the ligament around the tooth truth is affected.
6. Chipped or Cracked Teeth
If you have chipped or cracked your tooth in accidents or contact sports, bacteria can penetrate the tooth to cause infections. An injury to the tooth that doesn’t chip or crack can also damage the nerves to make them inflamed to cause pain and sensitivity, requiring root canal treatment.
7. Tooth Mobility
If you have an infected tooth, it is likely to feel loose. Tooth mobility results from other factors besides nerve death, but it indicates the need for root canal treatment. For example, you might have acidic waste products from pulpal necrosis softening the bone around the root of a dying tooth to cause mobility.
The signs mentioned indicate you might need root canal treatment to eradicate the infection and preserve your natural tooth. However, the treatment is not fearsome and is completed by the Pearland dentist in one or two appointments, depending on whether your anterior or molar is affected.
Visit a Dentist Near You
If you experience any manifestation depicted in this article, call or schedule an appointment with Pearly Whites of Pearland to get root canal treatment in Pearland, TX and preserve your natural tooth.
