Besides getting the dental treatments you need, your recovery period is another crucial phase. Any dental procedure is incomplete until recovery is complete. For root canal therapy, various factors influence the patient’s recovery rate. This article will learn all you need to know about root canal procedures and their recovery processes.
Root canal treatment is a dental surgery. It can be performed by an oral surgeon, a general dentist, or an endodontist (a dentist specializing in diagnosing and treating problems that affect the inner teeth structure, e.g., The root canal). This treatment involves the removal of decayed tissues that are inside the tooth’s roots.
Infections can get into the tooth’ roots, and if they go unattended to, worse dental issues could arise. One of the significant ways infections penetrate the tooth’ root is through a weakened enamel. The enamel usually protects the inner teeth tissues. However, if the enamel becomes damaged through decay or injuries, it might not be strong enough to prevent infections from getting into internal teeth tissues. When the condition gets deep into the roots, it damages the dental pulp (a tissue inside the root canal that helps develop teeth growth in children) and other teeth tissue. A root canal procedure is necessary to remove this infection.
In some cases, the dentist would have to perform a tooth extraction to remove the entire infected tooth. However, this would mean that the dental patient would have to lose their natural tooth and get other dental restorations or leave the extracted tooth’s space empty.
At Dental Impressions, our dentists often try to save the tooth first and then resort to tooth extraction only when all other alternatives have been exhausted. That is because having a missing tooth can cause some dental dysfunctions. To maintain our patient’s dental structure, we recommend root canal therapy to the natural tooth and get rid of the infection.
First, you would meet the dentist in charge of your treatment and know more about your dentist. Getting familiar with your dentist would give you confidence and positivity about your dental treatment.
After that, your dentist would show you the treatment plan and let you know all you need before and after the treatment. Also, you will need to provide some information about the medical records and medications that you are presently taking. That would assist your dentist in making the right choices about your treatment plan.
Now, you can get your root canal. First, you would be given local anesthesia depending on our painful the affected area is. That would help you feel comfortable during the procedure. Once your dentist has gained access to your tooth’s roots, they would remove the infected tissues and disinfect the area with disinfectants and other cleaning tools.
Next, the area would be filled and sealed to prevent the previously affected area from getting re-infected as re-infections could cause more damages than before.
In most cases, our endodontist in Chicago might even add a dental crown to protect the enamel and keep the tooth firm so that germs don’t penetrate the tooth again.
Recovery after root canal therapy depends on the patient and the procedure’s success. While some patients might not feel pain for up to 2 days, some patients might feel pain for more than two days. Your dentist in 60632 can recommend some pain relievers.
Note that if pain persists for too long, you should see your dentist immediately.
These are ways in which you can aid faster recovery:
● Listen and stick to instructions that are given to you by your dentist.
● Practice good oral hygiene and be committed to it.
● Do not eat hard foods for some days after your root canal therapy. It would help if you allowed the tooth to heal before applying force while chewing. Your dentist would guide you through the entire process and let you know when it is safe to start eating some types of food again.