Conservative Treatment for Severe Tooth Decay
Like all dental health issues, tooth decay can either be minor or severe, depending on how long it’s been allowed to progress. In mild to moderate cases, a tooth filling is often enough to treat the decay and the cavity that has formed in your tooth. In more severe cases, however, the decay may have spread to the internal chamber (or pulp) of your tooth, making a tooth filling insufficient. Treating internal decay means removing not only infected tooth structure, but also compromised tooth nerves, blood vessels, and other soft tissues from the pulp and root canal. This stops the infection from growing worse and spreading through the root canal, which could create significantly worse dental health issues in the future.
When Do You Need Root Canal Therapy?
The reason a tooth filling works for most cavities is because a cavity typically only affects the main structure of your tooth, called dentin. A filling restoration involves cleaning harmful oral bacteria from the cavity and filling it with safe, biocompatible resin. However, the pulp at the center of your tooth’s dentin contains the tooth’s soft tissues, which travel from the pulp to the jawbone through the tooth’s root canal. Root canal therapy becomes necessary when this chamber becomes infected, which can cause severe discomfort in and around the tooth. During your examination, your dentist will carefully inspect your tooth to determine if root canal therapy is necessary to save it and alleviate the intense discomfort.
Save Your Tooth with Root Canal Therapy
When decay infects the inner chamber of your tooth, root canal therapy could be the only way to save it. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Peddicord Family Dentistry in Ankeny, IA, today at (515) 963-3339. We also proudly serve patients of all ages from Bondurant, Polk City, Elkhart, Alleman, Cambridge, and all surrounding communities.
