Root Canal Treatment

Centre Dentaire du Nord’s team welcome you to their clinic in Saint-Jerome where they offer family and cosmetic dentistry.

A root canal treatment is usually a last resort to save a tooth with decay or a tooth that has been badly damaged. It allows you to keep your natural tooth. This technique has a high success rate.

When is a root canal treatment necesary?

Our teeth have three main parts or layers. The first layer is the tooth enamel : the white and hard layer on the tooth’s surface that protects a tooth. Underneath the enamel, lies dentine which is another hard layer : yellow in color and is considered to be the bulk of the tooth mass. The last part, on the inside of the tooth is called the dental pulp : contains nerve tissues and blood vessels.

A root canal is necessary when the dental pulp has been affected by :

• A deep carious lesion that has attacked all the tooth layers and has reached the dental pulp ;

• A trauma, such as a tooth fracture or a tooth that has died after a shock.

These situations present an opening for bacteria to enter the dental pulp. Your dentist must remove the dental pulp to avoid infection from spreading.

Root canal treatment sequence

Root canal treatments are performed under local anesthetic to avoid the patient from feeling any pain throughout the procedure. The sequence is as follows :

• Your dentist will place a dental dam around your tooth to avoid saliva and bacteria from entering the tooth during treatment;

• An opening is made in the tooth in order to access and remove the dental pulp, with specilaized equipment;

• The root canal is widened, cleaned and disinfected;

• A rubbery material will then fill the root canal(s). The tooth is then sealed.

Once all these steps have been completed, the devitalized tooth must be rebuilt to continue providing proper tooth function. Your dentist might only need to do a filling, but very often a crown is needed to protect the fragile tooth.

Some important facts about root canal treatments

Although the myth still persists, saying that root canal treatments are painful, this is no longer true today. Thanks to modern anesthetic techniques and your skilled dentist, root canal treatments are PAIN FREE.

Subsequent to treatment, patients often feel a big improvement as the pain subsides compared to before treatment. It is normal, however that the tooth remains senstitive for a few days after treatment while it is healing. A patient should never experience intense pain or signs of an inflammation after treatment. In this case he/she should contact their dentist to discuss.

Eventhough a tooth has been devitalized, it can still be affacted by cavities and gum disease. This is why the same rules of hygiene are appllicable to all teeth. Brushing at least twice a day and flossing at least once a day are recommended.

You can trust Centre Dentaire du Nord‘s team for your root canal treatments. We have the necessary qualifications and skill set to insure safe and effective root canal treatments.