Description
Dr. Hughes speaks about how root canal therapy can save a damaged tooth. The doctor explains that modern root canal treatment is virtually painless. He also discusses the various stages of the treatment.
Root Canal Treatment Can Save a Damaged Tooth
A root canal is performed when a tooth has either been badly decayed or the pulp has died for various reasons, whether it be from occlusal or by trauma, or like I said, decay or some sort of systemic infection. So what’s done is the tooth is opened up from the top and we actually remove the pulp and the lymphatic and blood vessel products inside the tooth. All the soft tissue is removed, the infection is drained and on either that visit or subsequent visit, the tooth is filled with an inert material called gutta percha and zinc oxide-eugenol. We use to essentially preserve teeth.
Also, root canals have a bad rap of being painful. I’ve had two myself and I was never so glad to see another dentist in all my life when I had these performed. But here, again, I still have the teeth, the procedures were not painful at all. It’s just another good procedure that modern dentistry offers for patients.
