Root Canal Treatment Arana Hills
Looking after the health of the soft tissues inside your teeth.
Endodontics is a specialist type of dentistry that focuses on the soft pulp in the roots of your teeth.
Endodontics is dentistry focused on the soft pulp inside your tooth roots. While vital for tooth development, this tissue can become inflamed or infected, often requiring a root canal. That’s why endodontics is closely linked to root canals and plays a key role in keeping teeth healthy.
What is endodontics?
Endodontics looks at the soft tissue inside the tooth, including the pulp, nerves, roots, and surrounding structures. Normally you don’t need to think about this area, but problems can occur if the pulp becomes infected or begins to die. This condition is called pulpitis. In mild cases, it may be reversible with care or medication, but in severe cases it is irreversible.
Irreversible pulpitis causes significant pain and sensitivity, often needing urgent dental care. It commonly develops from tooth decay or cavities—while fillings can repair most cavities, deeper decay that reaches the nerve requires further treatment. Other causes include fractured teeth and trauma.
When the pulp is irreversibly inflamed or damaged, your dentist will usually recommend root canal treatment to remove the infection, relieve pain, and save the tooth.
What is a root canal?
A root canal is the name of a treatment that repairs the damaged soft tissue inside a tooth. This soft tissue is known as the dental pulp, and is composed of connective tissue, nerves, and blood vessels. Together, this tissue helps the tooth to grow.
Sometimes, this tissue becomes damaged. It could be that the nerve dies, there is physical trauma to the tooth, an old filling fails, or perhaps gum disease causes the damage. Whatever the reason, damage to this pulp can be extremely painful, so it is usually very obvious to the patient that something is wrong.
This treatment will remove the damaged pulp and replace it with dental filling. The good news is that the pulp is no longer necessary in adult teeth because it has already completed its task of helping that tooth to grow, however the filling will replace the pulp to retain the strength and health of the tooth.
What is an Endodontist?
An Endodontist is a dentist with advanced training in treating the soft tissues inside teeth. Most of their work involves root canals –removing infected or dead pulp and sealing the tooth with a permanent filler.
While general dentists may perform some root canals, Endodontists handle complex or challenging cases and focus almost exclusively on this treatment. In most situations, you’ll need a referral from your dentist to see an Endodontist.
What are the advantages of receiving endodontic treatment?
There are multiple key benefits to receiving endodontic treatment such as a root canal:
Remove the source of pain: When the pulp in your tooth becomes infected, it can be extremely painful. Having a root canal treatment removes the source of that pain.
Save your natural tooth: Without a root canal, the infection in the soft tissue in your tooth can get worse, and you could lose your natural tooth.
Avoid more invasive treatments: Despite its bad reputation, a root canal is akin to a large filling. However, without one, you may end up needing a dental implant or other tooth replacement procedure, which is more invasive than a simple root canal.
Restore normal function: A successful root canal lets you bite, chew, and smile with confidence again, without the pain or sensitivity of an infected tooth.
If your tooth is causing you pain, it’s important to have it checked by a dentist and determine the ‘root’ of the issue so you can fix it, maintain the health of your teeth, and get back to living life to its fullest.
Symptoms of an infected, inflamed or dead dental pulp
You may require endodontic treatment if you notice any of the following symptoms:
- Pain or pressure around a particular tooth
- Sudden increase in tooth sensitivity
- Swollen, tender gums around the affected tooth
- Discolouration around an affected tooth
- Build up of pus around the affected tooth
- Facial swelling
Following an initial consultation and X-rays, DentArana will advise you as to whether root canal treatment will be necessary. In some cases, it may be possible to preserve part of the dental pulp. If disease has already begun to spread, it may need to be removed entirely.
Frequently asked questions
A root canal treatment in Australia depends on a number of factors, such as how many canals the tooth has (one canal makes for a simpler and faster procedure than a tooth with four canals), and whether you need additional appointments or sedation.
You may also need to factor in the cost of getting a dental crown, as this is an important follow-up to most root canals and can add an additional cost.
If you need financial assistance for your treatment, we offer an exclusive interest-free payment plan called SmileFund. With SmileFund, you can undergo your dental treatment and pay it off over time.
Many people are under the impression that root canal treatment is painful, however having an infected or decayed tooth is much more painful than the treatment itself. Root canals are carried out under anaesthesia, and our experienced team strive to make the process as quick and pain-free as possible. Many patients feel no pain at all and are glad to be relieved of the pain and discomfort after receiving treatment.
A dentist and an Endodontist have the same basic training and skills, but an Endodontist specialises in treatment of the soft tissues in the teeth. That’s why an Endodontist will often perform complicated root canal procedures or other treatments that involve the soft tissue in the tooth.
The most common procedure that an Endodontist performs is a root canal, but they can also fix cracked teeth, place dental implants, do root canal re-treatments, root end surgeries, and anything else relating to the soft tissue inside your tooth.
Sometimes, your dentist may not have the additional training or knowledge they would need in order to perform a treatment. This is most often the case for complicated root canal treatments, but your dentist may also send you to an Endodontist for other procedures, such as fixing an old root canal or placing a dental implant.
Schedule your appointment today
Severe tooth pain doesn’t have to mean losing your tooth. With gentle root canal treatment at DentArana, we can relieve discomfort, save your natural tooth, and restore your smile’s health. Book your appointment today and take back your comfort.