Root Canal Therapy in Petaluma, CA

Root Canal Therapy, or Endodontic Therapy, is needed when the nerve of a tooth is affected by decay or infection.

If you’ve noticed that one or more of your teeth has darkened or become unusually sensitive to hot and cold, your nerve roots may be damaged. If the nature and extent of the damage is significant, we may recommend root canal therapy.

In order to save the tooth, the pulp (the living tissue inside the tooth), nerves, bacteria, and any decay are removed and the resulting space is filled with special, medicated, dental materials, which restore the tooth to its full function. Having a root canal done on a tooth is the treatment of choice to save a tooth that otherwise would die and have to be removed.

Many patients believe that removing a tooth that has problems is the solution, but what is not realized is that extracting (pulling) of a tooth will ultimately be more costly and cause significant problems for adjacent teeth. Root canal treatment is highly successful and usually lasts a lifetime, although on occasion, a tooth will have to be retreated due to new infections.

Reasons for root canal therapy:

• Decay has reached the tooth pulp (the living tissue inside the tooth).
• Infection or abscesses have developed inside the tooth or at the root tip.
• Injury or trauma to the tooth.

After a root canal, a permanent filling or crown (cap) is often needed. Because a root canal removes the pulp inside the tooth, the tooth becomes more fragile and may break more easily if it is not covered with a crown or cap.