Root canal therapy: now there's a term to make even the most stoic of individuals pale! Most of you will have heard of root canal therapy, but few of you that have will know that it is actually one of the most commonly performed and successful restorative procedures available on the market. A root canal is frequently recommended by the dentist in Pueblo CO when the insides of a tooth, where the tangle of nerves, blood vessels and soft tissues are housed (the ‘pulp'), become (1) severely decayed as a result of infiltration by bacteria, or (2) damaged by accidental trauma. While dental implants provide an excellent tooth replacement solution, ultimately, it is not always necessary or even best to ‘rip out the old and put in the new'! Besides, it is at the heart of what the dentist in Pueblo CO does to help you keep all of your original adult teeth. And this can be successfully achieved with a root canal therapy performed by a qualified and experienced dentist in Pueblo CO, such as Dr. Morgan or Dr. Rogers.
Dentist in Pueblo CO: The Procedure Involved in Root Canal Therapy
A ‘root canal', or endodontic therapy as it is know by the dentist in Pueblo CO, can be seen as a brave endeavor to save a tooth that would otherwise be lost to bacterial infection or to the damage it has sustained in, for example, a bad accident. As it was mentioned, the pulp that lives inside the tooth root is composed of all the nerves and tiny blood vessels that essentially keep the tooth alive and healthy. Should this living tissue become affected by decay or exposed through trauma, it can die along with the tooth, says the dentist in Pueblo CO. This of course is not even to mention the amount of pain and discomfort associated with an infected and damaged tooth! The procedure itself (see series of images above) involves the removal of all the damaged and infected pulp inside the tooth and its replacement with a bio-compatible dental material called ‘gutta percha'. This cement is placed in the carefully cleaned and decontaminated interior of the tooth in order to seal the root canal space off from harmful bacteria. Once the infection has been taken care of, the tooth will be allowed a chance to heal and resume its function, says the dentist in Pueblo CO.