Undergoing a root canal in Port Moody rescues teeth from serious infection and from unnecessary extractions. Successful root canal therapy removes the nerve and infected material from the inside of your tooth but preserves the structure of your tooth. While the exterior structure of your tooth will remain intact, it’ll be weakened and vulnerable. To ensure the long-term health and function of that infection-free tooth, your dentist in Port Moody will place a crown over that tooth once you’ve fully recovered from your root canal treatment.
Once your treated tooth has been capped with a crown, you’ll be able to use it normally without worrying that it might crack or break apart with normal use — as long as you commit to daily dental hygiene to keep your teeth and gums healthy. The last thing you want is for serious tooth infections or gum disease to return and require a further root canal or periodontal surgery.
How do you know you might need a root canal?
There are four groups of symptoms that may, especially in combination, indicate that you have a serious tooth infection that may benefit from a root canal near you. Having said that, there are some situations when people with serious tooth infections experience very few symptoms and little pain. For that reason, seeing a dentist near you regularly is your best strategy for avoiding tooth infections requiring a root canal. Your dentist in Port Moody will carefully inspect each tooth and be constantly alert for early signs of infections — and intervene before extraction or maybe even root canal is necessary. Here’s a cluster of symptoms that may indicate you need to have a tooth infection removed through a root canal.
Pain
Just because you have tooth pain doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a root canal, but it’s a really good sign that you should make an appointment with a dental office in Port Moody. Pain that may indicate the need for root canal therapy includes:
● A toothache that lingers and pulses
● Severe pain while you chew or when you place pressure on your teeth
● Pain that interrupts or prevents sleep
● Pain when you drink anything hot or cold
● Pain that seems to pop up out of nowhere without warning, and that may be constant or intermittent.
Swollen and tender gum tissue
Like tooth pain, swelling and tenderness in your gums can indicate dental issues other than a root canal. Gum-related symptoms specifically associated with the need for gum disease include:
● Prolonged and significant (as opposed to brief and minor) swelling
● Anything that looks like a pimple or a boil on your gums
● Pimples on your gums that seem to keep coming back
● If it looks like the tooth near your swollen and tender gums looks taller than your other teeth
Bad breath and abscesses
As the infection takes hold and spreads inside your tooth, those multiplying bacteria emit odours that can turn your breath foul. Not even mouthwash will keep the halitosis associated with the need for a root canal at bay. That same serious infection can also produce abscesses in your tooth and gums. In the mirror, those abscesses might look like pimples but they’ll increase in size due to the accumulation of pus that may eventually drain into your mouth, producing a foul taste and smell.
Changes to the colour of the infected tooth
There are many factors that can change the colour of your teeth, but most of them will affect your teeth generally — not individual teeth in isolation from the others. If you notice that one tooth is changing colour — but not its neighbours — this may indicate a reduction in blood flow into and through that tooth due to a serious infection. By the time a tooth has begun to change colour, any infection inside that tooth has become very serious. Unless treated immediately, that infection will kill the nerve in your tooth.
Just because you have a tooth infection does not mean you need to have that tooth extracted. But if you ignore a tooth infection for too long, extraction may be necessary to save you from the serious health effects of rampant infection. How can you save your teeth and your health? If you have any symptoms of a tooth infection, make an appointment to see a dentist near you and ask if root canal therapy can save your tooth and health.