The first step is coming into the office so we can determine the cause of the pain. Our team at Pacifica Dental will gather information about your medical and dental history, as well as an accurate description of the pain. A certified dental assistant will take care of the required diagnostic aids and tests, such as radiographs, photographs, study models, and digital scanning. The dentist will perform a dental examination including an extra-oral evaluation as well as an intra-oral evaluation of soft tissue and dentition. You can expect questions such as “when did the pain start?”, “is it spontaneous?”, “is it lingering?” “did it wake you up?, “how would you score the pain, on a 1-10 scale?”, “are there any factors that make the pain worse or reduce it?”, and “is it triggered by temperature changes?”. In most cases, additional specific examinations are required in order to come up with an accurate diagnosis.  Ice and heat will be applied to your teeth and you will be required to grade the level of the pain/sensitivity. Percussion and palpation will also play a role in diagnosis. A bite test might be performed, if a cracked tooth is suspected. If necessary, referrals will be made to specialists at the dentist’s recommendation.

A diagnosis is made from the review of the data that was collected and recorded during the clinical examination, supplemented by the necessary radiographs and/or study models and/or the results of any tests or consultation. The dentist will provide you with a treatment plan consisting of urgency and order of treatment, the options for materials and methods,  alternatives (including no treatment), all recommendations, instructions and advice, risks and complications associated with each treatment, financial implications, and arrangement for payment options.

Once you have made a decision with respect to the choice of treatment and informed consent has been obtained, we will proceed with treatment.

Dental pain is most often due to tooth decay, or an inflammation or infection of the pulpal tissue. Performing endodontic treatment can significantly reduce the pain.

Studies have shown that pulpotomy and pulpectomy treatments alleviate pain and can restore the health of the tooth.

During a pulpotomy, a dentist/endodontist removes the coronal pulp (the pulp above the gum line, within the main part of the tooth). A pulpotomy can only be completed on a tooth that is still alive, meaning that it responds to temperature and has sensation and vascular flow. For this procedure to be successful, it is important there is no abscess in the area. In approximately 90% of cases, pulpotomy treatment reduces pain symptoms within a day.

A pulpectomy is a procedure that entirely removes the pulp from all parts of a tooth, including the root system. The main goal of the procedure is to clean the entire root canal, protecting it from further infection and to prevent it from spreading the infection into the surrounding apical bone. Root canal treatment can sometimes be combined with an incision for drainage and occlusal reduction. All these procedures are performed under local anesthesia.

Once root canal therapy is completed, your tooth should be examined periodically (the time between appointments will be recommended by your dentist). This allows us to ensure that the tooth has healed and/or is healing properly. Since an abscess may take 2 or more years to heal, the tooth should be re-evaluated once a year for at least a few years after treatment.

In many cases, patients come to us only when the tooth is too damaged to be saved. Then we   need to perform an extraction. The extraction can be non-surgical or surgical, depending on the tooth’s roots, surrounding bone and how badly damaged the tooth is.

One of the various tooth extraction techniques is called alveolotomy. An alveolotomy involves removing part of the alveolar and cortical bone in some complicated cases. It is performed whenever there are elements of difficulty and involves a minimal, controlled loss of supporting bone, avoiding uncontrolled fractures and accidents during extraction.

At Pacifica Dental, we believe in providing our patients with access to the best dental technology available. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) have been clinically proven to help patients heal faster with fewer complications after dental surgery and other procedures.

Did You Know?

PRP and PRF can help you:

• Heal faster and get back to work and other activities quickly after a surgical dental procedure.
• Reduce your need for strong pain-medication and anti-inflammatories following dental surgery.
• Greatly lower the risk of infection after oral surgery.

Best of all, PRP and PRF are 100% natural.

In general, after a simple extraction, the recovery period is 5-10 days, until the resorbable sutures are dissolved. After a surgical (more complicated) extraction, the recovery is within 2 weeks,  however, the nonresorbable sutures and membranes will be removed after a month during a follow up appointment. We highly recommend that patients do not smoke, drink alcohol, swish, suck, or rinse the mouth on the day of the extraction. Icing is recommended for 2 days in order to avoid swelling and decrease bruising.

If you are in any kind of dental pain, don’t waste any time and schedule an emergency appointment with Pacifica Dental. We will take care of you as soon as possible and we will make sure you have a quick and successful recovery.

The post Pain therapy – endodontics and/or extractions first appeared on Pacifica Dental.

The word “endodontic” comes from “endo” meaning inside and “dont” meaning tooth.

The dental pulp can be affected and infected for various reasons, which is why, in some cases, it must be removed.

Nerve removal does not mean the “death” of the tooth, as is generally rumoured. The pulp has a decisive role in the growth and maturation of that tooth and in maintaining its functionality in the oral cavity.

Following the root canal treatment, the tooth continues to function and fulfill its roles, being nourished by the surrounding tissues.

If the inflamed or infected dental pulp is not removed in time, the pathology will worsen. The pulp will eventually die, causing the formation of pulpal gangrene, and the hard tissues and supporting tissues will also gradually deteriorate, which will eventually lead to tooth loss. In addition, there is a risk that the infection will spread to the bone, causing significant damage and increasing the risk of complications.

The purpose of this procedure is to keep the tooth in the oral cavity because, as it is known, the best implant is its own root.

The canal treatment is a complex and meticulous labour determined by the nature of the space inside a root: very narrow, sinuous space, often difficult to approach. Modern techniques and state-of-the-art equipment have made endodontics one of the super-specialized disciplines of dentistry.

Every year, millions of teeth need root canal treatment. If you have not experienced such treatment, you probably have many questions about its justification, the results obtained and its effectiveness in maintaining a tooth in the oral cavity.

What will happen to you during a root canal treatment?

First, you will be given local anaesthetic, so that the procedure is pain free. Then, a sheet of latex called the “rubber dam” (non-latex rubber dams are also available) will be placed around the tooth to isolate it, keeping it clean and dry during treatment. The treatment consists of a few basic steps where the tooth is cleaned, disinfected, dried, and a filling is placed that extends the full length of the root.

The number of visits will depend on your particular case.  Many times only one visit is required, however there are instances where two or even three visits are needed to complete treatment. The number of appointments required depends on the degree of infection / inflammation and complexity of the treatment. At Pacifica Dental, quality of the treatment will always be given the utmost priority.

What is the success rate of root canal treatment?

Root canal therapy has a very high degree of success. Teeth which can be treated have a success rate of over ninety percent!

However, despite the advanced techniques and technologies that have emerged in recent years, root canal treatment still has some limitations. Not every tooth can be saved. It depends on the condition of the tooth at that time, the underlying reason for the condition, the number of canal treatments previously undergone, the degree of coronary destruction, the predictability of the result and the prediction of the longevity of the tooth in the oral cavity. All these aspects will be discussed with the patient before any treatment.

Treat your pain!

Oral pain such as toothaches or cracked / fractured teeth can often be difficult to pinpoint.  Because of the vast network of nerves in the mouth, the pain of a damaged or diseased tooth is often felt in another tooth and/or in the head, neck, or ear. Root canal therapy will, most likely, treat this type of pain.

Pulp damage is sometimes caused by trauma to the mouth and the endodontist specializes in treating these types of injuries. For example, a blow to a child’s permanent tooth that is not fully developed can cause the root to stop growing. A procedure called apexification stimulates the bone to be deposited at the end of the root which makes it possible to then save the tooth through a root canal procedure. There are even cases where we can regenerate pulp tissue that has become necrotic, this will allow an immature root to continue to form.

Maintaining good results

Once root canal therapy is completed, your tooth should be examined periodically (the time between appointments is variable). This allows us to ensure that the tooth has healed or is healing properly. Since an abscess may take 2 or more years to heal, the tooth should be re-evaluated for at least a few years after treatment.

Occasionally a tooth that has undergone endodontic treatment fails to heal. Although rare, sometimes a tooth initially responds to root canal therapy but becomes painful or diseased months or years later. When either of these situations occur, the tooth often can be maintained with a second endodontic treatment.

Costs

Root canal treatment, even if it initially involves slightly higher costs, is much cheaper than the surgical treatments that would be reached as an alternative, for example. extraction of the tooth with an implant crown. Not to mention that in this way what is natural is preserved, that is, the tooth itself.

If you experience sensitivity of a tooth to cold or hot foods or drinks, sudden, spontaneous pain  when chewing, tooth discoloration and/or constant jaw pain, give us a call. The Pacifica Dental team will make sure you get the correct diagnosis and receive the proper treatment.

The post Root canal treatment first appeared on Pacifica Dental.