Preserves Your Natural Tooth

Dr. Brett Hester offers comfortable and effective root canal therapy at his Valdosta, GA, practice, to restore your tooth to heath. Root canal treatment (also referred to as root canal therapy or endodontic therapy) is made necessary when decay (bacteria) is allowed to the pulp or nerve. (Regular cleanings and checkups can help prevent and detect problems early.) Sometimes deep restorations or trauma to a tooth may cause the nerve to be damaged to the point it needs root canal therapy.

Once this occurs the pulp becomes infected, and can even extend through the root tip and begin to eat away at the surrounding bone (this is a periapical abscess). When the pulp becomes infected, it must be treated, and cannot heal on its own. It can even weaken the entire immune system. An abscess can be a dangerous, not to mention, very painful condition.

Symptoms that the pulp has become infected may include sensitivity to hot/cold or sweets, pain, swelling, pain when biting or to pressure, and a bad taste in the mouth. Sometimes, however, no symptoms are apparent and the person is unaware of any problem until a checkup.Root canal Therapy is performed to clean out the infected tooth pulp, and disinfect the canals of the tooth.

Once the infection is resolved, the canal(s) are filled in to prevent any further infection. Once root canal therapy is preformed on a tooth, the tooth is then hollow (like an egg shell) and requires a core build-up and crown to strengthen and protect your tooth, and give you back your smile. Leaving an endodontically treated tooth alone without a final restoration (crown) may lead to recurrent decay, the tooth to fracture, or even loss of the tooth.

What to Expect During Your Root Canal Therapy

We want to make sure that you are comfortable throughout the entire procedure. The first thing the Doctor will do is to make sure you are thoroughly numb. Next to get to the infection, he will make an opening through the top of the tooth down to the pulp chamber. With a dental file, he will carefully clean out the infected tissue and shape the canals to be able to receive the filling material.

Digital X-rays are often taken throughout the process to make sure all the infected pulp is removed. Then he will fill the canals where the pulp once was with specialized filling material. After that, the doctor determines the next course of treatment to restore the rest of the tooth (post, build-up, crown).