Root Canal Therapy

Having an infected or severely damaged tooth can be a painful oral health problem that interferes with your daily life. But compromised teeth also pose a serious problem for your overall oral health. Without treatment, these teeth may need to be extracted, which is always the final resort.

Dr. Bradley Low is trained and experienced in helping patients save infected or severely damaged teeth with root canal therapy at our Lethbridge dental office.

How Do Root Canals Work?

Root canals are a treatment through which the tissue and nerves inside a dead or infected tooth are removed and the outside tooth structure is preserved. In performing root canal therapy, Dr. Low takes the following steps:

• Accessing the tooth’s interior – A small hole is created in dental enamel, so that Dr. Low can easily access and removed the infected dentin (tooth pulp).

• Cleaning root canal systems – The inside of your tooth is thoroughly cleaned and all signs of infection are eliminated, so your tooth can stay in place and contribute to your oral health.

• Restoring outer tooth structure – While infections and damage can wreak havoc on the inside of your tooth, it’s possible that its outer appearance is affected as well. Dr. Low can restore your tooth’s healthy appearance and functional shape by adding a life-like dental crown as the last step in the root canal process.

Contrary to popular belief, root canals aren’t as uncomfortable as their reputation indicates! When performing root canals at our Lethbridge dental office, Dr. Low takes care to thoroughly numb patients, so their treatment is as comfortable as possible. Many root canal patients compare the experience to receiving a routine filling.

Preserving Teeth with Root Canal Therapy in Lethbridge, AB

While maintaining healthy teeth and preventing damage to the material inside teeth is highly important for your overall health, teeth can be preserved as a permanent part of your smile, even without inner tissue and tooth pulp. When teeth are severely cracked and chipped, or when decay has allowed bacteria to enter inner tooth systems, root canals save remaining healthy tooth structure and prevent damage to other teeth.
Preventing extraction through root canal therapy is part of a conservative and health-focused treatment strategy. When a tooth needs to be extracted, it’s possible to experience loss of jaw bone volume or shifting teeth alignment, as your dentition adjusts to a gap in your smile and lack of stimulation from natural tooth roots. Dealing with tooth loss also involves additional treatment to replace extracted teeth. But root canals allow you to keep your own teeth by removing compromised tissue inside the tooth’s structure.

Don’t Wait to Seek Root Canal Therapy — Contact Us Today

For more information on whether your smile could benefit from a root canal, contact us at our Lethbridge dental office today for your treatment consultation.