PATIENT INFORMATION AND OVERVIEW

If you have been referred to us by your general dentist it is likely that your endodontic treatment requires specialist care. You may be experiencing pain when eating hot or cold foods/drinks, pain on chewing, throbbing aching or shooting pain, swelling in area surrounding a tooth or teeth. Endodontic treatment is likely to resolve your symptoms provided they are of tooth‐related origin. Sometimes you may have no symptoms at all, which is why regular examinations are so important.

Endodontic treatment (root canal treatment) may become necessary when the pulp is inflamed or infected. There can be a variety of causes of pulpal inflammation or infection, the most common being decay (caries). However, other things such as extensive and repeated dental treatment or cracks in the tooth that allow bacteria to get into the pulp can cause pulpal disease. Knocks to the teeth or supporting tissues can also cause damage that may not be obvious but can cause problems. Left untreated, this pulpal inflammation or infection can cause pain or lead to an abscess.

Endodontic treatment aims to create an environment inside the tooth to allow the infection to heal and keep the tooth symptom free. We make this environment as sterile as possible by removing bacteria and infected tissue debris to the tip of the root. We then fill this space with a root filling material.

Once your root canal treatment is completed, you will return to your dentist for the final restoration to protect and restore it to full function. As such, you retain your natural tooth, for which often there is no substitute.