Believe it or not, your teeth are alive. That’s right–the insides of your teeth are filled with living cells, blood vessels, and nerves. These living parts extend down into the roots of your teeth–the bits of your teeth that are buried inside your jaw bones.

Sometimes when tooth decay is not treated early enough, it can progress into these living parts of the tooth and cause a lot of damage to them—more damage than can be repaired. Sometimes this will be painless. Other times it can be extremely painful. (Ever had a really bad toothache? This was probably it).

In this case, a root canal treatment is the only way of saving your tooth.

Here’s how it works.

A numbing solution is administered to make the procedure pain-free. A hole is drilled in the tooth to give the dentist access to the living part of the tooth—called the dental ‘pulp.’ The area is cleaned mechanically and with a disinfecting solution. The roots are packed with rubber-like material and the original hole that was drilled is filled with a filling material.

Oftentimes, the size of the hole drilled to provide access to the pulp leaves the tooth rather fragile. In order to protect the tooth, a crown (or another porcelain filling type) may need to be placed on/in the tooth.

Root canal treatments are safe and effective. Our dentists will advise you on whether a root canal treatment is a suitable / the right treatment for you.