Root Canal in Vancouver, WA

What to expect

Why does a tooth hurt in the first place?

To understand why teeth can cause so much pain let's review the anatomy of a tooth. Here on the diagram we can see that Pulp or the tooth nerve is surrounded by Dentin, which is covered by a cap of enamel.

A tooth can cause pain typically due to one of the following reasons:

• Crack or Fracture Cavity or Tooth Decay: Both of these events will irreversibly inflame the nerve, a common symptom of pulpal inflammation is shooting pain, sever sensitivity to hot or cold, and spontaneous pain. A common rule of thumb is that if your tooth wakes you up, there is a problem.
• Tooth infection: This event occurs after the inflamed nerve dies and bacteria populates the nerve space of the tooth. Pretty soon the bacterial waste products begin leaking into the surrounding bone causing abscess formation. At this stage people can get painful swellings that can potentially be life threatening.

How it is accomplished

The whole point of the root canal procedure is to remove the inflamed nerve tissue, sterilize the inside of the tooth from any bacteria, and finally to fill the space with a material that will prevent any future invaders from colonizing the pulpal space.

The remaining pulpal space is filled with biocompatible material called Gutta Percha. This will keep the inside of the tooth sterile and the surrounding bone healthy.

Finally, all the affected tooth structure is build back up with composite material.The process is known as build up.