people beautiful smile with coffee, North Peace Dental and Implant Centre, Fort St John, BC, Canada

Root Canal Therapy

What is a Root Canal?

Preserving an infected tooth to restore long term function

Root canal therapy is performed when the nerve of a tooth is affected by decay, crack, fracture, or infection, while the tooth structure is still solid enough to be preserved. In order to preserve the infected tooth, the nerve of the tooth (which is called the pulp, aka the living tissue inside a tooth) along with any bacteria inside the tooth is removed, and the resulting space is disinfected and filled with medications along with an inert rubber-like material. After the root canal is successfully completed, the tooth is no longer vital, but can be preserved to last many more years for function. At North Peace Dental and Implant Centre, Dr. Grace Fong offers root canal therapy with 10+ years experience in providing root canal treatment.

What is a Root Canal_North Peace Dental and Implant Centre_Fort St John, BC, Canada

When is Root Canal Needed?

How do we know if a tooth requires root canal therapy?

Root canal therapy is performed when the nerve of a tooth is affected or already dead. Possible signs and symptoms indicating the need for root canal therapy include abscess (or a pimple-like nodule) on the gum, lingering severe sensitivity to hot and cold, severe toothache pain, or swelling and tenderness around the affected tooth (tooth suddenly feels “high” to bite on). These symptoms might result from deep decay, a crack in the tooth, trauma, or infection. Sometimes, a long lasting mild infection may have no symptoms present, but would only show up on dental x-rays. Your dentist would perform a vitality test to test the health of the tooth in question, combining with x-ray findings to determine if a tooth requires root canal treatment or not.

When is a Root Canal Needed_North Peace Dental and Implant Centre_Fort St John, BC, Canada

Does Root Canal Ever Fail?

Success rate, exceptions and management

As discussed above, root canal therapy is needed when the nerve of a tooth is disturbed, yet we often don’t know the exact cause for it. Therefore, root canal therapy unfortunately is not always successful. Simple root canal treatment has a success rate of 95%, and complex root canal treatment has a success rate of 90%. When a tooth fails to respond to the root canal therapy, sometimes the treating dentist or a specialist can attempt to re-treat the tooth and still be successful, other times the tooth need to be extracted, after which the patient would be given options on how to replace this lost tooth. At North Peace Dental and Implant Centre, we have options to provide the patient with a dental bridge or a dental implant to replace the missing tooth.

Does Root Canal Ever Fail_North Peace Dental and Implant Centre_Fort St John, BC, Canada

How are Root Canals Done?

Know what to expect for your root canal appointment

During a root canal appointment, your dentist will first numb the tooth that needs treatment. A sheet of rubber (rubber dam) will be placed around the tooth to keep it dry and free of saliva. The dentist will then access the nerve space (root canal) of the tooth, to clean our the impacted nerve tissue as well as bacteria in the space. Once the root canal space is thoroughly cleaned, it would be disinfected, and filled with a rubber-like material (gutta percha). A filling might be placed on top of the root canal. Since a non-vital tooth tends to be dry and more prone to fracture, a crown is often required after the completion of a root canal.

If you need a root canal therapy but are anxious about the procedure, check out the oral sedation option to help you relax during the process.

How are Root Canals Done_North Peace Dental and Implant Centre_Fort St John, BC, Canada