What is a devital tooth?
The root canal is the interior between the tooth and its root.
This canal consists of the tooth pulp (pulp), which is a branched structure located in the center of the tooth.
The root canal contains blood vessels and nerve branches.
Also, milk teeth of children must be devitalized if they are infected.
Contents
Symptoms of a tooth to be devitalized
The tooth must be devitalized if any of the following symptoms appear:
Toothache This is the most common symptom that patients experience.
Toothache is felt especially when chewing or drinking cold or hot drinks and this condition certainly requires dental treatment.
The tooth is sensitive to cold or heat for a few seconds, then the pain gradually subsides.
In addition, the toothache can also occur when touching (with pressure) of the tooth.
Color change When teeth change
color, it can be a sign of a tooth to be devitalized.
However, other factors such as aging or tobacco use (smoking or chewing) may also be responsible for the discoloration. Therefore, the cause must be determined in order to be able to assess whether there is actually a problem with the tooth.
Nocturnal restlessness
The toothache increases so much that it can also keep someone from sleeping. Often, toothache can wake up the person and cause frequent sleep disturbances.
Radiating pain In some cases, the pain
begins in one tooth, but then spreads to other organs of the body, especially the ear and head. The posterior teeth are located very close to the ears. Therefore, a posterior tooth on the left side can cause pain that spreads to the left ear.
Tooth fracture
Seeing or feeling fractures in a tooth can be the problem of a devital tooth.
Why is root canal treatment performed?
Root canal treatment is performed in the following cases:
- If the tooth is infected; that is, if the nervous tissue has suffered an infection.
The infection can also lead to necrosis of the tooth. - If the tooth is broken.
- If the tooth has been injured.
How is root canal treatment performed? The procedure
Examination and anesthesia: Usually the dentist starts with a jet of water to see if the tooth has died.
If the patient does not feel anything, it means that the nerve is no longer alive and the treatment can be carried out without anesthesia.
If the nerve is still alive, local anesthesia is performed on the tooth and in the surrounding area.
Tooth drilling: The dentist uses a drill to penetrate to the pulp and remove the dead or inflamed tissue.
If he has to work on a front tooth (for example, an incisor), he practices the hole on the back, but if it is a molar, he drills into the tooth from above.
Remove the inner tissue: Different sizes of thin drills are used to remove the tissue from the tooth.
This process can take a very long time because the tooth root often has many thin branches and even smaller ramifications.
During the treatment, the cavity is repeatedly cleaned to remove the dissolved material. When the root canal is freed, the tooth is disinfected to prevent re-inflammation.
The filling: Subsequently, a rubbery paste is used to fill the cavity, and then the created borehole is sealed.
Gutta-percha (a whitish resin obtained from the dried milky sap of the tree of the same name) is used for the filling.
The crown: After the root canal treatment, the temporary filling must be removed in order to rebuild and crown the tooth.
To do this, a carbon pin is inserted into the tooth canal, which serves to support the reconstruction and the crown.
The crown is designed to protect the tooth and prevent possible fractures, as the remaining tooth is more fragile and can easily break later.
Possible complications
If a tooth hurts after root canal treatment in the cold, it must be noted that here the situation is completely different.
The pain comes from inside the tooth and indicates that there is still living tissue in the tooth.
It may be an additional channel that the dentist did not see. One should consult the dentist to clarify the problem.
Perhaps the canal has not been completely cleared out, as it is sometimes difficult to detect the canals inside the tooth.
Infected or inflamed tissue particles could also have remained at the base of the tooth. This is a complication of root canal treatment, in which the tooth remains infected and the treatment must be repeated.
Over time, a dental or apical granuloma may form.
If the dentist does not clean the tooth properly, it may turn black due to the presence of residues of hemoglobin or other substances used.
After root canal treatment, the encapsulated tooth in the uncovered area can develop caries just like other teeth.
One of the risks is that the tooth falls out.
In rare cases, trigeminal neuralgia may occur, which can trigger very severe sudden pain in the face.
Misconceptions
A root canal treatment is very painful
Fact: It doesn’t hurt as much as you might think.
Advances in the field of dentistry and the use of effective anesthetics reduce the pain of root canal treatment.
The goal of this treatment procedure is to remove the infected pulp, which is the source of pain.
Sometimes people keep delaying the visit to the dentist, causing a serious infection.
If the cause of the problem is eliminated, the pain will be significantly reduced. However, one may still feel pain after the anesthesia wears off.
These symptoms can be relieved by over-the-counter or prescription painkillers.
Tooth extraction is a better alternative than root canal treatment Fact: If a root canal treatment
is done correctly, the reconstructed tooth can last for many years or even life.
Most dentists prefer root canal treatment to tooth extraction, as this method can save the tooth.
Since the nerves in the pulp tissue are responsible for pain or sensitivity to cold and heat, after removing the pulp and sealing the canal, one can no longer perceive these sensations.
The procedure of root canal treatment requires several visits to a dental clinic
Fact: Most people think that tooth extraction is better because it is faster, whereas for a root canal treatment you have to go to a dental clinic several times.
This does not correspond to the facts. If you decide to have an extraction, a dental implant must be made so that the adjacent teeth do not move.
If an implant needs to be fitted after a tooth extraction, several dental visits are required and the cost is significantly higher.
Usually a root canal treatment requires 1-3 visits to the dentist.
The number of visits depends on the condition of the tooth.
Root canal treatment is not suitable
for a dead tooth Fact: A tooth dies when blood flow to the tooth root is interrupted.
This can happen due to trauma or tooth decay. Even though you might think that a dead tooth does not need to treat because it does not cause pain and is not sensitive to temperature, pulling the tooth or root canal treatment can prevent bacteria from multiplying in the dead tooth and infiltrating the surrounding bone.
A root canal treatment is not very effective
Fact: The success rate with this treatment is almost 95%.
Of course, technical competence and experience of the dentist are important factors to ensure the result.
For a good result, it is important that the root canals in the tooth root are cleaned and sealed.
Some teeth have more than one root and multiple root canals. If the dentist fails to clean and seal all the canals, the symptoms remain.
How long does it take to recover after root canal treatment?
Root canal treatment is actually a last treatment option offered to the patient in an attempt to avoid tooth extraction.
Normal recovery takes about three or four days if there are no complications.
Ideally, the tooth is a little sensitive, but the patient should not feel pain.
Factors affecting recovery
• Condition of the tooth • Competence
of the dentist
• Care after the procedure
Costs of root canal treatment A root canal treatment
at the dentist costs between 100 and 250 euros and can also cost around 500 euros with Krone.
