Symptoms indicating that the pulp of a tooth has become infected may include sensitivity to hot/cold or sweets, pain, swelling, pain to biting or pressure, and a bad taste in the mouth.
Sometimes deep restorations or trauma to a tooth may cause the nerve to be damaged to the point of requiring root canal therapy. Once this occurs, the pulp becomes infected and can even extend through the root tip and begin eating away at the surrounding bone. By the time the pulp is infected, it cannot heal on its own and must be treated. The infection can even weaken the entire immune system. This is a dangerous situation, not to mention very painful. Symptoms indicating that the pulp has become infected may include sensitivity to hot/cold or sweets, pain, swelling, pain to biting or pressure, and a bad taste in the mouth. Sometimes, however, no symptoms are apparent, and the person is unaware of any problems until a checkup.
A root canal is then performed to clean out the infected tooth pulp and disinfect the canals of the tooth. The only other treatment option would be to extract the affected tooth. Once the infection is resolved, the canal(s) are filled in to prevent any further infection. Usually a core build-up and crown is recommended for restoring a tooth that has had root canal therapy.
The dentists at East Georgia Dental have a special interest in navigating and treating complex root canals to produce the best results.
