Tooth Nerve Pain         Changing Your View Of Root Canals

Tooth nerve pain can range all the way from a slightly sensitive tooth to a severe toothache. Tooth treatment may vary from a small filling to a root canal and crown.

I've been treating patients with tooth pain for over 20 years as an endodontist (root canal specialist). Sometimes a toothache can start off as a slightly sensitive tooth before it becomes a severe toothache.

It really is amazing the severe pain that a small tooth nerve can cause. The more technical name for the tooth nerve is the dental pulp. Some people call this the tooth canal because the pulp appears to be a canal running down the center of the tooth.

Sensitive tooth. There are several possible causes for a sensitive tooth:

• Tooth decay
• Leaking dental filling
• Crack in tooth
• Gum recession

A sensitive tooth usually indicates what is known as reversible inflammation of the dental pulp. The pulp is the nerve and blood supply inside the tooth. It has the potential for healing if the inflammation is mild.

Irreversible inflammation of the dental pulp means the tooth nerve pain treatment must eliminate the diseased pulp. Eventually irreversible inflammation will result in an infected or abscessed tooth if the pulp is not removed.

This can lead to swelling of the surrounding gums or jaw.

This type of tooth nerve pain will not go away on its own.

What are the symptoms you will have?

• spontaneous tooth pain
• prolonged and severe sensitivity to hot and/or cold
• pain on biting on the tooth
• the tooth may feel like it hits first when you close your teeth together

Irreversible inflammation or infection of the dental pulp will leave you with the options of either removing the tooth or saving the tooth with a root canal treatment.

The bottom line is that the diseased pulp must be removed with one of these options.

Having the tooth removed when you are experiencing severe tooth nerve pain may seem like the easiest
and least expensive option.

However, in the long run you may be faced with spending more money and more time in your dentist's office if you replace the missing tooth with a bridge or an implant.

Tooth nerve pain is best treated with a root canal. This is really a very simple tooth treatment. The tooth canal containing the diseased pulp tissue is cleaned with small endodontic instruments and disinfecting solutions.

Once the tooth canal is clean it is filled with a root canal filling material. The two most common root canal filling materials are gutta percha and Resilon.

You might be thinking that I have over-simplified the root canal treatment. But I've performed this procedure thousands of times and the vast majority of these have been uncomplicated, predictable, and successful.

Root canal treatment really is your best option when you have tooth nerve pain.

Because there is so much anxiety and so many myths surrounding the root canal I wrote The Relaxed
Root Canal.

In this book I answer over 80 commonly asked questions and I also tell you how to truly have a relaxed root canal appointment.

In Chapter 10 I tell you the ONE THING YOU SHOULD NOT DO AT HOME TO TREAT YOUR TOOTH NERVE PAIN.

It is a common home remedy for a toothache but it will make your tooth nerve pain worse.

In Chapter 5 you'll find THE ONE QUESTION YOU MUST ASK YOUR DENTIST BEFORE YOUR ROOT CANAL.

For more information on The Relaxed Root Canal PLEASE CLICK HERE.

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