Girl looking in the mirror after root canal treatment in San Diego, CA

What Happens When You Get a Root Canal?

April 1, 2023

Would you accept your dentist’s proposal to get a root canal even after visiting them and getting a specific tooth examined for excruciating pain? You probably think you must leave the dentist’s office immediately, feeling OTC painkillers can quickly help alleviate the toothache without needing a fearsome treatment.

You make no effort to determine what is causing the excruciating pain in a specific tooth besides the sensitivity you feel when having hot or cold foods and when biting or chewing. Instead, you aim to leave the dentist’s office, making excuses to return for another visit because you don’t realize you have a severe infection in your tooth which prompted the dentist near you to suggest getting a root canal to alleviate the pain and preserve your tooth from extraction which is only alternative if you refuse this tooth preserving treatment.

What Does Root Canal Treatment Entail?

Unlike the popular perception, root canals are not fearsome or painful. In contrast, this treatment helps alleviate the severe toothache resulting from the dental pulp infection you experience in one or two appointments, depending on which tooth is affected and the extent of the damage.

When you accept the proposal of the dentist nearby to receive root canal treatment in San Diego, CA, you help the dentist provide relief from the tooth by allowing them to eradicate a severe infection in your tooth by performing a surgical treatment to clean your tooth’s insides and help save your tooth from removal.

Root canal therapy is not fearsome or painful as imagined because dentists ensure you don’t experience discomfort when receiving the treatment. You receive local anesthesia in your mouth to block pain impulses and sedation to calm your nerves making the surgical process entirely painless.

After your mouth is numb and you are entirely relaxed, the dentist drills a tiny access hole in your tooth to expose the infected and inflamed dental pulp, making its removal easy. The dentist removes the pulp from its chamber and the root canals to shape the space for a filling. After cleaning and shaping the hollow space, the dentist fills it with biocompatible rubber-like gutta-percha with adhesives to seal the root canals entirely. The dentist also places a temporary filling in the access hole created in your tooth’s crown, which they suggest you get removed when restoring your tooth with a dental crown.

What after Receiving Your Root Canal?

After receiving your root canal, you can return home with your mouth still numb from the anesthesia and feeling no discomfort. However, the numbness from the anesthesia disappears in four to six hours when you begin experiencing pain. The pain can make you think you shouldn’t have received the treatment suggested by dentist 92131. However, it helps if you understand the discomfort emanates from the surgical procedure you underwent and not the infection that existed in your tooth. The pain you experience from the surgical procedure disappears in a week or two if you care for your treated tooth, as suggested by the dentist.

The San Diego dentist also anticipates you will experience pain from a root canal. Therefore they recommend painkillers for your comfort, which they suggest taking for about three days when the pain begins to subside. In addition, they also recommend eating soft foods and avoiding chewing with the treated tooth until you restore it with a dental crown. You must refrain from smoking or drinking alcohol in celebration of eliminating the toothache from the infection because they are both harmful and can delay healing or create complications. Brushing the treated tooth will be challenging, making it essential to exercise caution near it using gentle strokes with a soft-bristled toothbrush to prevent dislodging the temporary filling in the tooth.

You will require a week or two to heal after receiving a root canal. However, you can visit the San Diego dentist for a follow-up appointment to enable them to confirm whether your tooth has recovered from the procedure and have the tooth restored with a dental crown during your visit from them.

Unlike the traditional crown procedure needing two visits, the dentist has invested in CEREC technology to restore a tooth in one visit during your final appointment. You can restore your tooth with a CEREC ceramic crown to return home without pain from the infection or the root canal to enjoy the full functionality of your tooth for many years by maintaining excellent dental hygiene and preventing infections from affecting your tooth by neglecting cavities or leaving minor injuries to your tooth untreated.

When you get a root canal from the San Diego dentist, you help alleviate pain from infection besides preserving your natural tooth. Therefore if suggested this treatment to eliminate pain and temperature sensitivity in a specific tooth, kindly receive the treatment without fear because you will likely experience happiness after receiving the treatment.

Bliss Dental Arts performs many root canals on patients and provides them with dental crowns to restore the tooth after treatment. Kindly arrange an appointment with them if you experience a similar situation to receive a root canal and a tooth restoration from the practice to preserve your natural tooth.

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