Root Canal Therapy
It used to be the case that if you were to have a diseased tooth, it would need to be extracted. Fortunately today, with the advancement in oral care and the availability of numerous options for treating a diseased tooth, our team of Red Deer dentists can offer you root canal therapy.
Each of your teeth contains a pulp which is a remnant of the tissues that formed it. It also contains nerve tissue and blood vessels to provide the necessary sustenance to your tooth and its health. When a tooth becomes broken or chipped, the damage creates a passage for bacteria to enter the pulp chamber. This can cause an accumulation of bacteria within the tooth which can cause serious issues if left untreated. These issues include, but are not limited to, pus developing at the root’s tip which can cause swelling and pain.
Root canal therapy removes the harmful bacteria and inflamed tissues from within the pulp chamber of the infected tooth. Your dentist in Red Deer will follow this process up with the application of a specialized filling material below the gumline and within the nerve channel. This option is offered for the treatment of an infected tooth which would otherwise require a tooth extraction. Some patients still prefer to extract a diseased tooth, but we caution that the gaps this creates between teeth can cause broader complications to your oral well-being.
The procedure itself involves our Red Deer dentist drilling an opening into the tooth’s crown and pulp chamber. From there, we either remove or reshape the diseased pulp. The final phase entails permanently sealing the hole with a dental crown that is made of metal or porcelain, depending on your preference.