Root Canal Therapy - Concord, CA

Treating the Root of the Matter Saves Teeth

Pain-Free Treatment to Alleviate Tooth Pain

About 15 million teeth are saved every year with root canal treatment. A root canal is necessary when the pulp of a tooth becomes inflamed or infected. If pulp infection is left untreated, this can cause severe pain and/or lead to an abscess.

While the perception that root canals are painful began decades ago, advances in dental technology have resulted in root canals that are no more uncomfortable than having a cavity filled.

At Smile Makers Dental Care, we strive to change what patients think about root canal treatment by using technologies that enable a painless approach while also alleviating dental anxiety. During a root canal in our Concord, CA office, our highly skilled oral surgeon removes the infected pulp and nerve in your tooth root, cleans and shapes the inside of the root canal, then fills and seals the space.

Impacted Oral Anatomy

To understand what happens during a root canal in Concord, CA, it helps to have basic knowledge of the impacted oral anatomy. The pathway that runs straight down through the root of your tooth that consists of the nerve and blood vessels is known as the root canal.

The root canal system includes the pulp chamber and root canal space. In normal teeth, the pulp chamber is located inside the anatomic crown (tooth) beneath the white outer enamel and dentin. The roots are covered in a substance called cementum that helps attach teeth to the surrounding alveolar bone (the bone that supports your teeth) via the periodontal ligament.

When the pulp chamber is normal, it resembles the shape of the crown surface. Pulp is the softest layer of the tooth and contains blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue essential to the production of dentin as the tooth develops. Dentin is the second layer, and is made of calcified, living tissue that continues growing throughout the life of a tooth.

The Out-of-Sight, Essential Tooth Root

A tooth root comprises the lower two-thirds of your tooth and serves to anchor it in position and keep your jawbone healthy. The root canal space is located below the pulp chamber in what is called the radicular portion of the tooth.

The end tip of the tooth root is called the apex. Root canals can be round, oval, long oval, flattened or irregular. In most people, incisors, canines and premolars have one root, while molars have two or three, each of which can get infected. Due to the complex branching of nerves, most teeth have an intricate internal anatomy.

Signs You Need a Root Canal

Severe tooth pain
Prolonged sensitivity to hot or cold food or drinks
Pain when biting or chewing
Tooth discoloration
Loosening of the tooth
Swollen, tender or darkened gums
Pimplelike bumps (fistulas) on the gums
Cracked or broken teeth

Underlying Reasons Why You Need a Root Canal

Our implant dentist has been providing dental implant treatment for many years. Utilizing state-of-the-art technology and implant systems, we consistently provide cutting-edge surgery with excellent long-term outcomes. With our personalized treatments, we can deliver a solution that precisely fits your smile goals, oral health needs, and even your financial budget.

Our treatment process is straightforward and efficient. You’ll first complete a personalized consultation and evaluation with our implant dentist in Concord, CA. Next, if necessary, you’ll undergo preparatory treatments like tooth extraction, bone grafting, or gum disease therapy to establish proper oral health and a strong foundation for new teeth.

We complete your dental implant surgery right in our office while you’re comfortably under sedation. This surgery is precise with help from guided technology and will be completed in just a few hours. In many cases, we can provide new temporary teeth or modify your existing denture, so you’ll have functional teeth as you heal.

When this recovery phase is complete, your final set of teeth will be precision-crafted to meet your exact specifications along with our clinical recommendations to optimize long-term function and aesthetics. Once this restoration is attached to the implants, you can experience better function, greater confidence, and an improved quality of life—for life!

Dedicated to Painless Root Canals

When pulp inside your tooth root becomes infected, the pulp and bacteria must be removed to save your tooth, oral health and overall health. During a root canal in Concord, CA, our dentist will first numb the treatment site with a local anesthetic.

If you suffer from dental anxiety or need additional sedation, we offer diverse sedation options. Either way, you won’t feel any pain, although you may experience slight pressure as we complete the procedure. We drill a small hole in your tooth crown to gain access to the pulp chamber and carefully clean out all the bacteria and infected pulp and tissues. Then we fill and seal the end with a rubberlike material called gutta-percha. Afterward, the tooth is restored with a crown or filling to protect it and restore normal function.

We accept many insurance plans and offer third-party financing to ensure your treatment is both painless and affordable.

Advanced Technology Ensures Optimal Outcomes

At Smile Makers, we believe in using innovative endodontics in Concord, CA to benefit our patients, such as micro-endoscopy and the GentleWave® Procedure. In fact, we’re one of only two practices in NYC to use groundbreaking GentleWave technology, which requires specific training and certification. Special operating microscopes enable our oral surgeon to see tiny details inside a tooth that guide more accurate treatment.

The GentleWave Procedure is a minimally invasive state-of-the-art protocol to access the infected root canal system. The protocol enables the preservation of more of the natural tooth, thereby helping the tooth structure remain strong.

Using GentleWave, our oral surgeon can typically clean and fill the tooth in just one visit, compared to the several appointments required with standard root canal therapy. Thorough debridement of the tooth is essential when performing root canal treatment to prevent the need for root canal retreatment or an apicoectomy.

In our experience, GentleWave provides the most predictable method for thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting complex internal anatomies.

Benefits of Root Canal Therapy

When our oral surgeon perform a root canal in [city, state], this will enable you to live a comfortable and functional life free of tooth pain. The benefits of root canal treatment include:

How to Prevent Root Canals

The best way to prevent a root canal is to practice good oral hygiene, avoid hard food that can crack teeth, and protect your teeth when playing sports. Follow these additional precautions:

Brush twice daily
Floss once daily
Avoid biting hard foods (especially with restorations)
Wear a night guard if you grind or clench your teeth in your sleep
Wear a mouth guard when playing sports
Avoid acidic citrus drinks and sugary soft drinks
Get regular dental checkups and cleanings
Seek immediate treatment for tooth pain

Consequences of Untreated Pulp Inflammation

Infected tooth pulp will not heal on its own, and will only get worse. Although the pain may disappear and you may think the infection has healed, this is actually a signal that the nerves inside your tooth have died. Although the pain subsided, the infection is still present inside your tooth, and the only treatment option other than a root canal is tooth extraction. If you forgo either treatment, a bacterial infection can spread to your jaw, brain, blood, and possibly the rest of your body. The consequences can be serious, and even fatal!

There’s no need to fear pain-free root canal treatment in Concord, CA!

Schedule a painless appointment and save your smile.