How Your Tooth Got to Needing Root Canal Therapy
Root canal therapy is widely recognized, but it isn’t something that everyone will have to undergo in their lives. The condition that causes the need for it – a tooth infection known as decay – is often noticed, treated, and stopped before it becomes that severe. However, if you do need root canal therapy, then your tooth may be in serious trouble, and you shouldn’t wait any longer to treat it. At our Cleveland, TX, dental office, we can help save your tooth from extreme decay by performing comfortable root canal treatment in our office.
The path of progressive tooth decay
Tooth decay begins as a seemingly minor condition that you may not realize can become so severe. It starts with the erosion of your tooth enamel, which can make your tooth feel slightly sensitive at first. The sensitivity may not be severe enough to cause alarm, though it should. The longer ignore it, the more your enamel will erode until, eventually, the bacteria get past it and infect the tooth structure underneath it. At this point, the cavity that forms in your tooth can likely be treated with a tooth filling, which is a conservative procedure that involves the filling the cavity with biocompatible material.
The signs that it’s getting worse
When you ignore a tooth cavity long enough, the conservative tooth filling you expected may no longer be enough to treat it. The decay can progress to center chamber of the tooth and its root canal, which can lead to more severe trouble and intense discomfort. If your tooth infection becomes more severe, so will the symptoms, and in addition to heightened discomfort, you might also notice discoloration in the tooth, increasing damage to its outer structure, increasingly worse chronic bad breath, and more.
How root canal therapy saves the tooth
While a filling can’t save a severely infected tooth, root canal therapy often can. The procedure involves carefully removing the infected tissues and tooth structure from the inner chamber and root canal, which is a more complex process than simply cleaning and filling a cavity in the tooth’s dentin. However, once the infection is removed, we can restore the remaining healthy tooth structure with a custom-designed dental crown, which will protect the tooth by absorbing your bite pressure and help restore your smile’s healthy, natural appearance.
Learn more about root canal therapy
If your tooth needs root canal therapy, then you shouldn’t wait any longer to treat the tooth and save it from more serious trouble. To learn more, call our Cleveland Family Dentistry office in Cleveland, TX, today at (281) 592-1234. We also serve the residents of Kingwood, Conroe, Livingston, and all surrounding communities.