Can I lose my tooth more easily after a root canal?
This is the question that is most often repeated at the Crooke & Laguna Dental Clinic when Dr. José Roldán, an expert endodontist for more than ten years, explains the treatment to his patients. That is why today we will try to answer your doubts about this procedure that you have surely heard of at least once.
What is a root canal?
It is a dental treatment that is performed when the dental pulp, which is the soft tissue inside the tooth, becomes inflamed or infected. This can be caused by deep caries, dental trauma or advanced periodontal disease.
Surely, if we were to ask anyone what a root canal is, they would not know how to describe it exactly, although it is not an unknown term to anyone. We can say that endodontics is colloquially known as “removing the nerve from the tooth”.
The main objective of endodontics is to remove the affected tooth pulp, clean and disinfect the root canal (the space inside the root of the tooth) and then seal it to prevent reinfection. This procedure saves the tooth and relieves any pain or discomfort the patient may be experiencing.
What do we get asked about the most?
Dr. José Roldán, who performs more than three hundred root canals a year at our clinic on Paseo de la Farola 1, makes sure that all his patients understand the procedure before starting it, since he recognizes that there are still certain misgivings among patients due to lack of information.
“The main fear I encounter is that the tooth could be lost or that it is a painful treatment. As for the former, we have to bear in mind that the teeth that need to be endodontized are usually in very bad condition, either due to large-scale caries or multiple restorations” he assures.
“What we are going to do is save it, give it years of life again, minimizing all the after-effects. That’s the beauty of my specialty: the patient comes in with a lot of pain, and we not only soothe it, but we also provide a lasting solution.“
“Regarding pain during the procedure, this is something that does not exist, since it is performed under local anesthesia. In addition, at Crooke & Laguna, we use Painless Anesthesia. This is an electronic pen that controls with exact precision the flow rate with which the dental anesthesia is applied, administering it in a slow and measured manner. The very slow application avoids the pain usually caused by the speed of injection and subsequent tissue swelling. As an area becomes numb, the flow rate delivered increases slightly“.
How is endodontics planned?
“At Crooke & Laguna we are at the forefront of technological advances, which allows us to properly plan each case” says Dr. Roldán. “Thanks to our state-of-the-art CBCT (3D scanner) I observe how the canals inside the tooth go as if I had it outside the patient’s mouth, and that is fundamental to program the treatment in a minimally invasive way. There are many clinics that do not have this technology and we have to recognize that it is an important and decisive factor.“
How do you protect a tooth after root canal treatment?
“Historically, a filling has always been performed to cover it. However, today, we do a filling restoration that covers the tooth completely, which prevents any subsequent breakage. In addition, at Crooke & Laguna we also use an intraoral scanner to take measurements of the tooth digitally (we no longer use molds to do this analogically), which allows us to produce a customized restoration with maximum precision. This allows us to provide an exclusive service to each patient.“
If you have any discomfort in a tooth and you think that Dr. José Roldán, specialist in endodontics, could give you a solution, make an appointment at Clínica Dental Crooke & Laguna.
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