When Should You See an Endodontist for Help With Problem Teeth?

When you have trouble with the soft tissue and nerves inside your teeth, our endodontist can often save those teeth from being lost to decay and infection. As endodontists, we spend our time helping patients with tooth pain, infections and serious dental disease. Our goal is to relieve your pain and use effective measures to keep the problem tooth alive and, once again, healthy.

When To See an Endodontist

• Tooth sensitivity and pain: This is typically the main reason people visit an endodontist, especially when the pain is chronic or acute. We can assess your pain levels, determine the root cause of your pain and how to treat it effectively. If you have pain whenever you drink something hot or cold, this is a big red flag that you might have a decaying tooth.
• Traumatic tooth injury: If you suffer from an injury to your head or face, this can leave one or more teeth chipped, cracked, loose or worse, knocked out. Even when the teeth are cracked or chipped, this can damage the tooth roots as well as expose the tooth pulp, increasing the likelihood of a bacterial infection that will degrade the tooth. Using endodontic treatment, we can often repair the damaged tooth and save it! In this case, a crown can restore the tooth’s function and appearance after repairing the damaged tooth root.
• Root canal for tooth infection: A severely damaged tooth involves harmful oral bacteria damaging the innermost part of the tooth. Even a little hole can allow this bacteria to gain a foothold in a tooth and result in swelling of the gums around it. When this happens, you’ll know because the inflamed tissue and tooth nerve endings hurt. Our endodontist can remove the bacteria from the tooth pulp and tooth and either cover the tooth with a crown or replace it. Root canals are the most common reasons to see an endodontist. Picture your tooth nerves holding your tooth in your jaw (just like a tree is rooted into the ground below through the root system). While a front tooth only has a single root, your molars can have two or roots and canals.
• Apicoectomy: This is a minor surgical treatment that can be done on adults or children to save damaged teeth. Also called a root end surgery, this approach involves removing the affected tooth’s root tip as well as the surrounding tissue. This is often done when a root canal still leaves residual inflammation behind or infection near the root tip entering your jawbone. Our endodontist makes an incision in the gum tissue to clear it out, fill the end of the root and then close it with sutures.

Come See Us

With the help of state-of-the-art and cutting-edge equipment like ultrasonic instruments and 3D-X-rays, we can easily determine the precise cause of your tooth pain. If you are nervous about seeing an endodontic specialist because you are anxious about experiencing potential pain, remember that a root canal can immediately relieve serious tooth pain and save your tooth from extraction. Also, saving a natural tooth saves you time and money from not having to replace it!

If your dentist has recommended that you see an endodontist, we are always ready to help and love saving teeth. Your smile is in good hands with our team thanks to advanced training, specialized techniques and the latest technologies so you can experience the best possible care!