Elmhurst Root Canal Dentist Demystifies This Crucial Treatment

Written by Dr. Scharfenberg on Apr 11, 2023

Although root canal treatment has a bit of a scary reputation among dental patients, the truth is that this treatment can be downright smile-saving. In this short article, our Elmhurst root canal dentists are giving you some more information about how this treatment works, and why and when it becomes necessary. Keep reading to learn more!

So, first of all, what is root canal therapy? Root canal is a treatment that removes damaged or infected dental material from the natural tooth. When a tooth has become damaged down to the inner core of the tooth—meaning it has reached the dental pulp—our team will likely perform a root canal to save the tooth.

During root canal therapy, our team removes any damaged enamel and dentin, and then we go into the tooth and clean out the dental pulp. As part of this process we remove the dental roots that extend from the dental pulp—hence the name “root canal.”

Once all of the damaged and infected material is gone, we will clean the remaining dental structure. The goal is to save as much healthy enamel and dentin as possible. We fill the remaining tooth structure with dental-grade substance, and then restore the tooth with a personalized restoration.

Timely root canal therapy can literally save a tooth that would otherwise fall out or need to be pulled. The goal of treatment is to preserve as much natural tooth structure as possible, and to restore the tooth so that it looks natural and functions optimally.

If you are dealing with dental damage or infection, the best thing that you can do is to seek timely treatment from your dental team. The sooner that we are able to address weak spots in the tooth, the less invasive restorative treatment is.

Our Elmhurst dentists are happy to give you any additional information that you may need. So, give us a call, or use the Contact Us page on our site, to get started!