Root Canal Treatment

At our dental clinic in Île-Perrot, our dentists have the necessary qualifications to perform root canal treatments. We know that this procedure tends to scare people, but we want to reassure you: with the state-of-the-art technology we use, as well as the gentleness for which we are known, there is absolutely nothing to fear!

During a root canal treatment, we remove the dental pulp, i.e. the internal part of the tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves. This procedure is necessary when the dental pulp is infected. Several factors can cause such an infection, including a deep cavity, a tooth with cracks or even a damaged filling. The root canal treatment is then performed to prevent the infection from spreading and avoid complications. It is thus a procedure of last resort to save a tooth, otherwise it will have to be extracted and replaced.

Many fear the root canal treatment because of the pain, but is this fear well founded? With the state-of-the-art techniques and technology used by your dentist, root canal treatments are not really more painful than getting a filling. Moreover, the procedure will often relieve the person’s pain: an infected dental pulp can be very painful because this part of the tooth contains the nerves.

Root canal treatments are generally performed during a single appointment. A local anesthesia is injected to prevent the client from feeling any pain during the procedure. Then:

• Your dentist will place a dam around the tooth to protect it from saliva and bacteria during the procedure.
• He makes an opening in the tooth to reach the dental pulp.
• The pulp is removed and the canal where it was located is enlarged.
• The dentist cleans the canal to remove all traces of infection and he fills it with a rubber-like material.
• The procedure site is then sealed with a temporary filling.

Preferably, the tooth needs to be covered with a dental crown to strengthen it. It is normal for the tooth to be sensitive in the weeks after the procedure, but the situation will go back to normal with time.

Here are the scenarios in which a root canal may be necessary:

Tooth decay reaches gradually each part of the tooth. When left untreated, it can reach the dental pulp. In such case, your dentist needs to perform a root canal treatment to treat and save the infected tooth.

If you break one of your teeth through trauma, your dentist may need to perform a root canal treatment to fix it if a filling is not sufficient.

After a trauma or because of a deep or damaged filling, bacteria can reach the dental pulp. Your dentist will then perform a root canal treatment to prevent the infection from spreading.

A dental abscess, i.e. an infection at an advanced stage, can result in a necrotic dental nerve, which in a way means the tooth’s death. To treat the infection, your dentist needs to perform a root canal treatment.