Root Canals

Do you have pain? Sensitivity to hot or cold beverages?

Root canal therapy may be necessary to remove the nerve from an infected or traumatized tooth. At Chesapeake Dental Arts we take great care to provide comfortable, gentle relief. We numb you thoroughly and then remove the pulp and blood supply on the inside of the tooth. We rinse the area with medication to kill any remaining germs and place a rubberized filling in the root. You return on a separate visit for a more permanent restoration. Root canalled teeth are very brittle and almost always require a crown after completion.

We become concerned that you are a candidate for a root canal when you have severe pain to hot, cold, when biting into hard foods, or oral pain that wakes you up at night. Some patients have no pain at all and an x-ray reveals an infection that must be addressed.

We are highly skilled at getting you numb. Often a “hot” tooth that doesn’t want to numb will require an antibiotic regime prior to the procedure. You will be sent home with medication and will return on another date.

Sometimes it is very obvious from an x-ray that a root canal is necessary. Other times it is very subjective and will depend on your answers to a series of questions and tests performed in the office. Most root canals can be performed in the office. When an old root canal becomes re-infected or when the size of your canals require the use of a high power microscope you will be referred to one of the top nearby root canal specialists.