Restorative care
A root canal saves the tooth.
The reputation is worse than the appointment. We treat most root canals right here, and you keep your own tooth.
Root Canal Treatment
When decay or a crack reaches the nerve inside a tooth, the tissue in there becomes infected, and that is the throbbing, keeps-you-up-at-night kind of toothache. Root canal treatment clears the infected tissue out of the canals, disinfects and seals them, and leaves the tooth in place. The alternative is losing the tooth and then deciding how to replace it, which is a bigger job than treating it.
We perform most root canals here in the office. A small number of teeth have unusually complex root anatomy or a complication that is better handled by a specialist, and in those cases we will say so and refer you rather than press on. Either way you will know which it is before anything starts.
What it is like here
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You keep your own tooth
Nothing replaces a natural tooth as well as the natural tooth. Treating it is almost always simpler than replacing it.
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Most cases done here
You are treated by the same team that already knows your mouth. Complex cases we refer, and we will tell you why.
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Comfortable, and it stops the pain
The tooth is thoroughly numbed and nitrous sedation is available. Most people say the relief afterward is the memorable part.
Step by step
How the visit goes
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Diagnose
We test the tooth and take images to confirm the nerve is involved, and rule out anything else causing the pain.
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Treat the canals
The tooth is numbed, the infected tissue is removed, and the canals are cleaned, disinfected and sealed.
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Protect the tooth
A treated tooth is more brittle, so most need a crown afterward to keep them from fracturing. We will plan that with you.
Questions
people ask.
If yours is not here, call the office. We are happy to talk it through before you book anything.
Call 734-529-3031Is a root canal as bad as people say?
No, and the reputation comes from a time before modern anesthetic and instruments. The tooth is numbed thoroughly and most patients are comfortable throughout. What people remember is that the ache they arrived with is gone.
Why not just pull the tooth?
It is your call, and sometimes extraction is the right answer. But once a tooth is gone the bone under it starts to shrink and the neighboring teeth begin to drift, so you are usually trading one appointment for a longer and more expensive replacement later.
Do I need a crown afterward?
Usually. A treated tooth has lost its blood supply and becomes more brittle over time, and a crown wraps it so it does not fracture. Front teeth sometimes manage without. We will tell you which yours is.
Let’s stop the toothache.
If a tooth is throbbing, call the office. We want to see you soon, and we will tell you quickly whether a root canal is what it needs or whether something else is going on.
- Accepting new patients
- Most treatment done here in one office
- Nitrous sedation available
- We review your insurance with you
- No pressure, just honest answers