Saving damaged teeth

Root Canal

We will always endeavour to save your teeth rather than remove them because natural teeth are best. The loss of even one tooth can have a detrimental effect on your mouth and it often is more expensive to replace a lost tooth than to treat a damaged one.

One of the ways we can prevent the loss of a tooth is with root canal treatment. Treatment involves the removal of the irreversibly damaged pulp tissues from the centre of your tooth.

A root canal treated tooth can function normally and can be maintained with routine dental care and oral hygiene measures. We normally recommend that a root filled tooth is further protected with a crown to protect from further irreversible damage.

Root canal treatment procedures are comfortable and painless as the tooth is anaesthetised during treatment. After treatment, the tooth may be sensitive or tender for a few days. Taking over-the-counter painkillers can relieve this discomfort. However, if the pain persists and is severe, or a swelling occurs, you should contact us immediately.

You can now book and pay for you appointments online here.

The benefits of Root Canal Treatment

Eat and chew comfortably and efficiently
Avoid extracting a root in medically compromised or elderly customers
Provide a secure anchor for dentures and bridges
Boost your smile and your confidence
Prevent ‘hollow’ appearance seen with poorly fitting dentures
Reduce wear and tear, movement and bite problems on the teeth by preventing gaps

FAQs

A root canal procedure is used to treat inside a tooth at the centre of the infection. The infection is caused by bacteria in the mouth invading the tooth through gum infections and less often decay, insecure fillings, or damage to the tooth.

Signs you are experiencing infected dental pulp include pain, prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold, tooth discolouration, gum swelling, and tenderness. However, sometimes there may be no symptoms at all. This is why we always recommend keeping up regular appointments with our dental hygienists to monitor and look after your gum health, so they can spot any early warning signs and help prevent the development of infection

We’ll use an x-ray in our new state of the art scanning suite to determine whether irreversible damage has been done, and from here we will advise on root canal treatment. Generally speaking, there are two main reasons as to why root canal treatment is necessary: if the blood vessels and nerves in tooth are inflamed or irreversibly damaged, or if the pulp degenerates completely into infection and abscess.

Any opening to the tooth gives bacteria an opportunity to fester and chance the development of infected dental pulp. Tooth decay, cracks, ill-fitting fillings, or trauma to the tooth can expose its inner workings to bacteria and infection.

“I have been a regular patient at Arnold Dental for many years. My treatment has always been good. Sometime ago I agreed to join the Private Patients’ Plan. I now find that I am able to access my preferred dentist more easily and that I am not kept waiting very long when I attend for my appointment. The treatment is always carried out in a pleasant manner. I do believe efforts are made to keep the dental service as reasonably priced as possible and I feel able to recommend it to others.”

Margaret

“Lovely staff and the practice is very welcoming. I am a very nervous patient and am now at the stage where I do not worry about having to have any treatment.”

Christine