When many people develop tooth decay, they don’t usually think they’ll need root canal treatment to treat it. In most cases, tooth decay and the cavities that they cause can be successfully addressed with a more conservative, tooth-colored filling. However, when tooth decay progresses and becomes a more extensive problem, filing the cavity in your tooth may no longer be the appropriate solution. For more severe cases of tooth decay, your tooth may need more involved root canal treatment, which involves carefully removing the decay and infected tissues from within the tooth’s inner chamber and root canal. By removing the extensive infection from within the tooth, your root canal treatment can improve your chances of preserving the tooth and avoiding its loss or extraction.

How do root canals become compromised?

The root of your tooth is the foundation of the tooth’s entire structure, and it provides the tooth’s crown with the strength and stability it needs to successfully bite and chew your food. On the inside of tooth’s root, the canal also carries the tooth’s nerves, blood vessels, and other vital tissues between the tooth’s pulp and the jawbone structure that supports the root. When a tooth’s crown becomes infected with decay, it can gradually progress until it reaches the tooth’s pulp and the tissues within it. When this occurs, the infection can compromise the tissues, the tooth’s pulp, and the root canal, leading to severe discomfort and putting the tooth at severe risk.

What treating a root canal means

When your tooth needs to be treated for decay, the process requires removing the decay from your tooth as well as any of the tooth’s structure that may have been compromised by it. When treating a small or moderate cavity, this process often involves cleaning and filling the cavity, preferably with biocompatible, tooth-colored composite resin. However, decay that reaches your tooth’s pulp also affects more of your tooth’s structure, and addressing it can require removing the infected tissues from the pulp and root canal, as well. The root canal treatment process is more involved then a tooth filling procedure, but may be the only way to stop your tooth’s continuing infection and save what remains of its healthy structure.

Why it’s important to act fast

Tooth decay is a progressive concern. The reason why it doesn’t always require root canal treatment is because people who have tooth decay often treat it before it has the chance to progress any further. However, if a tooth filling fails, or if tooth decay becomes more severe before you treat it, then it can affect more of the tooth structure than you realize. The sooner you treat tooth decay, the more of the tooth you can save, and the better chance you have of avoiding losing the tooth.

Learn if root canal treatment can save your tooth

If your tooth’s root canal becomes infected by tooth decay, then saving it may require removing the tissues from within it and sealing the exposed chamber. To learn more, schedule a consultationschedule a consultation by calling the Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX, today at (936) 441-4600.