Dental Services - Root Canals in Bel Air, Maryland
Thanks to new dental technology it is now possible to complete root canals (endodontic therapy) in a rapid, efficient, and virtually painfree fashion. Root canal therapy is needed when the pulp (nerve) inside a tooth becomes infected, usually because of a deep cavity, a crack, or from a previous history of trauma to the tooth. Once the pulp gets infected there are only two choices for treatment, either remove the tooth or save the tooth by doing root canal (endodontic) therapy on it. During endodontic therapy, the pulp of the tooth is removed from the pulp chamber and canals located in the tooth root. Once the pulp is removed, the canals are shaped, cleaned, disinfected, and filled with a special filling material called gutta percha.
Automated endodontics uses rotary nickle titanium files with a special low speed endodontic handpiece to rapidly shape the pulp canals. This is much faster than traditional hand filing of canals. The nickle titanium rotary files are very strong but very flexible. This makes it possible to have even difficult root canal cases completed in just one visit. Of course there are still times when it is best to treat badly infected teeth over a period of several appointments. Teeth treated with endodontic therapy have better than a 90% chance of being saved. However, endodontically treated teeth are often weaker and more prone break, so it is often necessary to place a crown on the tooth to protect it from breaking.
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