What your dentist in Santa Rosa Beach and DeFuniak Springs, Florida, wants you to know about root canal therapy.
Root canals can save your teeth and save your smile. When you have tooth decay, millions of harmful bacteria can spread throughout your mouth, causing problems with your other teeth and soft tissue. You can have decayed teeth extracted, but then you are faced with living without teeth or considering expensive methods of tooth replacement. Why not keep your teeth instead? Now you can, thanks to root canal therapy.
Dr. Michael O’Donnell at Great Florida Smiles & Orthodontics wants to share how root canals help your smile. He has two convenient office locations in Santa Rosa Beach and DeFuniak Spring, Florida, to serve you.
There are some common signs and symptoms indicating you may need a root canal. Dr. O’Donnell wants you to know you may need a root canal if you experience:
- A sharp pain when you bite down
- Continuous severe pressure and throbbing pain
- Continuous pain after eating hot and cold foods
- Swelling in your gums near a tooth root
- Pus or a whitish area near a tooth root
Sometimes, you can still need a root canal even if you have no symptoms. For unknown reasons, a tooth can die naturally, or trauma can cause a tooth to die. In these cases, a tooth will usually begin to darken and appear gray compared to the teeth next to it.
Dr. O’Donnell begins your root canal treatment by creating a small opening in your infected tooth. He will remove the diseased and dying inner tissue of your tooth and place a sedative material inside your tooth. After your tooth has calmed down and is free of pain, he will fill the inside with an inert material and seal the tooth permanently with a metal filling.
Modern root canal treatment is easy and quick, with minimal discomfort and downtime. It’s also usually less expensive than dental extraction and tooth replacement options.
Your teeth are important and most dentists agree it is better to keep your teeth if possible. Root canal treatment allows you to keep your smile intact. For more information on root canal treatment call Dr. Michael O’Donnell at Great Florida Smiles & Orthodontics. He has two office locations in Santa Rosa Beach and DeFuniak Spring, Florida, so don't let pain stand in your way!