Saving Your Natural Tooth
Cazes Family Dentistry - What is a Root Canal?
Cazes Family Dentistry - How Do I Know if I Need a Root Canal?
Cazes Family Dentistry - Does a Root Canal Hurt?
Saving your natural tooth
In a root canal procedure, the pulp of the tooth (the living tissue inside) is removed and the resulting space is filled with special, medicated dental materials that restore the tooth to full function. Using root canal therapy not only preserves your natural tooth, extending its lifetime, it also protects and preserves the jaw bone and other supporting tissues around the tooth. Wherever possible, saving your natural tooth will also save you from more pain and expense down the road.
There are a number of signs that suggest root canal therapy may be necessary:
- Sensitivity to hot and cold.
- Severe toothache pain.
- Red or swollen gums near the tooth.
- Discoloration of the tooth.
- An abscess (or pimple) on the gums.
The Root Canal Process
In most cases, a root canal treatment involves one or two trips to the dental office, where it can be carried out by either a dentist or an endodontist. Here’s our step-by-step process for performing your root canal:
Treatment and Diagnosis
The first step involves obtaining an x-ray of the tooth and its surrounding bone to diagnose the underlying cause of your symptoms. To control infection and inflammation, your specialist may prescribe antibiotics. Often, the intense pain associated with abscesses is a result of the pressure from infected swelling, a common contributor to root canal discomfort. By proactively reducing this inflammation, we address this problem before the procedure.
Prepping The Tooth
When it’s time to initiate the root canal, we prioritize your comfort and peace of mind. To achieve this, we diligently administer anesthesia to numb the area, encompassing your gums, teeth, and surrounding tissues. Once you are comfortably settled, we proceed by drilling an access hole into the tooth and meticulously eliminate the pulp, bacteria, decayed nerve tissue, and any related debris.
Sealing The Tooth
Depending on the severity of the abscess, we may introduce medication into the tooth to ensure complete infection clearance. In cases requiring multiple appointments, a temporary filling will be applied. By this stage, you should already begin to experience relief. The final step involves permanently sealing the tooth, but only after it has been thoroughly cleaned and restored to a healthy state.
Cost of a root canal in Long Valley
The cost of dental treatment varies widely, but saving the tooth with a root canal is more cost-efficient in the long run. With a typical insurance plan, root canal therapy has an average out-of-pocket cost of around $200 to $500+. After an oral exam, we would be happy to provide you with an accurate quote for your insurance company so you can find out your actual out-of-pocket costs. Without insurance, you can expect to pay anywhere from $800 to $1400+ for treatment.
Why is there such a wide ballpark estimate of the cost? When we generate a quote for root canal therapy we consider factors like:
- The severity of the infection.
- The location of the infection in your mouth.
- The health of the surrounding teeth and gums.
- Complications which may require more time or a delicate and experienced touch.
No dental practice can provide an accurate quote over the phone. Every case is different so it’s important to speak with a dentist who can evaluate your unique situation and provide you with all your treatment options for your consideration.
Is there an alternative treatment to root canals?
An abscess or infection in your tooth is extremely dangerous and considered an urgent health matter. Many people think of root canals as some sort of ‘lesser evil’ to end excruciating dental pain. More important than that, root canals remove an infection that can spread and become life-threatening, requiring much more urgent and invasive care. This is why we work tirelessly to fight the reputation that root canal therapy has gained and why your comfort and peace-of-mind is so important to us.
If you think you may have an infection but you really don’t want a root canal, we strongly encourage you to reach out to us anyways. We will not perform any procedure without your full understanding and consent and may have alternative options for you with the ultimate goal of resolving your infection.
Contact us today
to schedule an initial consultation & exam.
Your consultation will include an examination of everything from your teeth, gums and soft tissues to the shape and condition of your bite. Generally, we want to see how your whole mouth looks and functions. Before we plan your treatment we want to know everything about the health and aesthetic of your smile, and, most importantly, what you want to achieve so we can help you get there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Damage can occur due to deep decay, trauma, dead nerve, a loose filling or crown or a crack or chip in the tooth.
Thanks to modern techniques and technology and a compassionate dental philosophy our highly trained team of dentists and hygienists can provide root canal treatments with minimal to no pain at all.
By the time you realize you need a root canal, your tooth pulp and nerve have already begun to decay. This infected tissue will never fully heal and would only become infected again. Removing the pulp is the only safe option.
A root canal treatment usually requires one or two office visits. Simple or minor root canal cases usually take about 30 to 60 minutes of treatment, while a more complex case take longer– around 90 minutes.
That depends on what sort of insurance coverage you have. After a consultation, we can provide you with an estimate to send to your provider. We strongly encourage you to make a root canal a high priority. Please speak to us if you feel any hesitation.
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