Do You Need a Root Canal? 7 Tell Tale Symptoms

There are certain conditions, like tooth decay, that can affect your teeth to a great extent, even risking their vitality. Thankfully, root canal treatment offers a way to treat these ailments while preserving your natural teeth and avoiding the trouble of acquiring some type of tooth replacement. In this article, you will find some signs and symptoms that indicate that you may need to receive a root canal in Dearborn.

Severe pain

Having a severe toothache that won't go away even after taking pain medication indicates that you may have an infection. This is the result of tooth decay. Dental cavities start as an erosion of the enamel, which is the outer layer of the tooth that protects its underlying tissues. At this point, dental cavities can be treated by a dentist in Dearborn with a dental filling. However, when patients neglect this condition, the erosion continues to destroy the tooth until it reaches its core, which is called the dental pulp. It is formed by connective tissue, blood vessels, and the nerve. Once the infection reaches this tissue, it causes a lot of pain and can only be treated with a root canal near you.

During the procedure, your dentist will drill a hole in your tooth and extract all of the infected pulp tissue, which in some cases may be devitalized. Then, an antibiotic will be applied to the surface of the tooth. Once the tooth is empty and disinfected, your dentist will fill it in and seal it, to prevent it from becoming infected in the future.

Changes in your gums

Pain is not the only indicator that there may be an underlying problem. If you have a toothache, make sure to examine the tissues surrounding the affected tooth, including the gums. Swollen gums are a sign of infection. Furthermore, some patients develop a sort of pimple that can ooze pus into their mouths. This results in bad breath and a foul taste.

Tooth discoloration

When an infection reaches the pulp, the blood supply can be affected, since the blood vessels lie in this structure. As a result, the tooth can become devitalized and acquire a different color, which is often described as grayish. If you have experienced a change in the color of your tooth, visit the dental clinic near you as quickly as possible to determine if it was caused by an infection, since it is not the only cause.

It hurts to bite or chew food

Some patients with severe tooth decay experience pain while eating. As the infection reaches the pulp, the nerve is damaged and the tooth starts to release some acidic waste that irritates the structures that support the tooth, such as the periodontal ligament. When we chew food, significant pressure is exerted on our teeth and this can induce pain when the tooth is infected.

Your tooth has loosened

The acidic waste from the infected pulp doesn't just irritate the periodontal ligament. It also softens the bone that supports your tooth. Therefore, your tooth can become loose, and in some cases may even fall off.

Dental injuries

A chipped tooth is a very serious dental emergency that requires immediate care to be able to preserve it. When this happens, patients often require root canal treatment to help preserve the nerve which can be damaged after being exposed or just due to the trauma.

Tooth sensitivity

Generally, people with severe cases of tooth sensitivity can consider root canal treatment as a therapeutic option after other options have failed. By extracting the nerve, the patients stop feeling pain when eating or drinking anything hot or cold.