Root Canal Therapy / Treatment
Inside every tooth there is a chamber that houses nerves, blood vessels and other types of tissues collectively called pulp tissue or "nerve". When the tooth has extensive decay, very large fillings, cracks or has sustained other forms of injury, the pulp ("nerve") becomes severely irritated or infected. This results in pain, which sometimes can be very acute and debilitating. This is most often a throbbing pain that will last for minutes or hours, but many times is a dull, hard to localize pain that will radiate to the ear or the entire jaw. Sometimes the tooth is sensitive to both hot and cold, and painful to biting and touching. The treatment for this condition is to remove all pulpal tissues inside the tooth, sterilize and then fill the inside of the tooth with special materials which will prevent leakage. This is what's called root canal therapy. The process involves little or no pain, and saves a tooth that otherwise would have to be extracted (pulled).
Dr. Mitrofan can answer any questions you might have regarding this special procedure.