What it is
Inside every tooth is a soft core of nerve and blood vessels. When decay or a crack reaches it, it becomes inflamed or infected, and that is often the throbbing toothache that keeps you up at night. Root canal treatment removes that soft core, cleans the canals inside the roots with fine files and disinfectant, and fills them so bacteria cannot get back in.
Yiorgos uses a microscope and works under a thin rubber sheet that keeps the tooth dry and stops anything going down your throat. Afterwards most back teeth need a crown to protect them, because an emptied tooth is more brittle.
Who it is for
Teeth with deep decay, a long-lasting toothache, a swelling or an abscess, or a crack into the nerve.
Does it hurt? Honestly
With good anaesthetic, the treatment feels like a long filling. The tooth can ache for a few days afterwards while the tissue around the root settles. If the tooth is very inflamed it can be hard to numb; we then take more time, add more anaesthetic, or do it in two visits.
Whatever we are doing, raise your left hand and we stop. How we work with nervous patients
Afterwards
- Chew on the other side until the tooth is crowned or has its final filling.
- A dull ache for two to five days is normal; pharmacy painkillers help.
- Call us if you get swelling, or the ache gets worse instead of better.
