Root canal therapy williston park ny

A root canal is one of the most common dental procedures performed. At the center of your tooth is the dental pulp. The dental pulp is a collection of blood vessels that help to build the surrounding tooth.

Show

Infection of the pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep decay, cracks and chips, or repeated dental procedures.

Symptoms of the infection can be identified as visible injury or swelling of the tooth, sensitivity to temperature, or pain in the tooth and gums. This simple treatment can save your natural teeth and prevent the need of dental implants or bridges.

If you experience any of these symptoms, your dentist will most likely recommend non-surgical treatment to eliminate the diseased pulp. This injured pulp is removed and the root canal system is thoroughly cleaned and sealed. This therapy usually involves local anesthesia and may be completed in one or more visits depending on the treatment required. Success for this type of treatment occurs in about 90% of cases. If your tooth is not amenable to endodontic treatment or the chance of success is unfavorable, you will be informed at the time of consultation or when a complication becomes evident during or after treatment. We use local anesthesia to eliminate discomfort. You will be able to drive home after your treatment, and you probably will be comfortable returning to your normal routine.

After the root canal procedure, we recommend no chewing on the tooth until a permanent restoration is placed.  Please make an appointment to your dentist within 30 days to have the restoration placed.

We offer endodontic services for our patients and can refer more complex cases to specialists. We encourage you to learn more about what we provide and how we can help. If you have any questions, please contact us by calling (516) 747-7075. We're always happy to hear from you!

Endodontics is the dental specialty that deals with the nerves of the teeth. Root canals are probably the most notorious procedure in dentistry and the most common procedure relating to endodontics. When a tooth becomes infected it is usually related to the nerves in the root of the tooth. The infected nerves need to be removed. If left untreated an infection can turn into an abscess, which is a much more serious problem that includes bone loss in the jaw.

The area around the tooth is numbed with a local anesthetic to start the procedure. The dentist will then drill down into the tooth to create an opening into the canal. They will then be able to remove infected tissue and clean the canal. After the infection has been removed, the space if filled with a sealant called gutta percha. It is highly recommended that a tooth that has undergone a root canal is fitted with a crown. This will improve the appearance of the tooth, and will also make it much more likely that the root canal is successful.

"Root canal" has become a scary term for dental patients to hear, but the benefits of the procedure and advances in dental technology have made it much less "scary". Local anesthetics and proper pain medication allow the procedure to be performed with little to no pain in most cases. There may be some soreness following the procedure, but that is normal for most dental procedures. Over the counter painkillers are usually enough to relieve any pain afterwards, but your dentist may prescribe medication. The procedure will also relieve you from pain caused by the infection allowing you to enjoy all the foods you love without any pain from heat, cold, or biting too hard. If you are experiencing pain consult your dentist today.

We at GFD believe that there are tried and true dental procedures that we continue to provide our patients but also believe that those are not enough to treat our patients' mouths and bodies.

We have brought in some of the most innovative and technologically advanced equipment and protocols to enhance patient treatment.

These include, laser, CAD/CAM, Cone Beam, and ozone therapy. We feel that you deserve not only the best that traditional dentistry has to offer but also the best that technology can provide as well.

What Is Integrative Dentistry?

As an example, the use of lasers in periodontics has changed the way we treat gum disease. By incorporating a laser into the process, we can often eliminate the need for painful and aggressive gum surgery. This way, patients want to take care of their gum disease because it is not the painful experience their family and friends has gone through.

Another example is ozone therapy. As dentists, Dr. Marshall and Dr. Howie have seen all too often how destructive bacteria can be in the mouth. We have incorporated ozone therapy because ozone is one of the best killers of bacteria known in the world today. It also has tremendous anti-inflammatory properties that help heal dental situations much better than ever before. When we incorporate ozone with lasers in root canal procedures, we feel we are disinfecting root canals as best as possible.

Cone Beam Technology has allowed us vision of the oral cavity better than we knew possible. CBCT is a 3D x-ray that opens the window to potential significant dental and whole body findings that are not possible with traditional 2D x-rays. At GFD we know that many patients have problems in their mouth and yet they have no pain. Unfortunately, teeth and the mouth do not always hurt when there is a problem, like decay or even a chronic infection.

With CBCT we come closer to finding these problems way before they start to hurt you Thus, we can achieve our goal of protecting your mouth and body from significant infection, pain and destruction by finding problems before they get too bad.

At GFD we are committed to providing dental care that integrates traditional procedures when needed but using modern equipment and protocols to make those procedures as simple and easy for the patient as we can.

We look forward to showing you what we can do.

First, root canals are only performed when the nerve is dying or dead. Thus, we do not do root canals just because the decay is “deep.” In fact, with our biomimetic philosophy and protocol we can often avoid root canal in “deep” decay situations. Just because there is a lot of decay does not mean it needs a root canal. Dr. Etess and Drs. Golan are committed to “keeping your tooth alive”

Second, root canals are done blind. They are done with instruments and irrigants that go down thin, tiny canals that the practitioner cannot see. They rely on x-rays on electronic locators to make sure that the canal is cleaned, shaped and sealed correctly. Unfortunately, the root canal is not two dimensional. The root canal system is a series of twists and turns, with areas that harbor microscopic bacteria. It is virtually impossible to know if all the bacteria is removed. In fact, we cannot remove them all. Thus, when we “seal” a root canal, we always leave bacteria there.

It is of the utmost importance therefore, that we as dentists do everything we can to remove as many bacteria as possible. We need to go above and beyond what we used to do and use technology to get disinfection to areas we could never reach before.

Dr. Etess and Golan Family Dentistry is committed to this quest. We incorporate laser and ozone technology to make sure that we disinfect root canals as well as known to dentistry today. While success cannot be guaranteed, we are confident that we are raising the probability of success.

Finally, root canals weaken teeth. By dehydrating the tooth, the tooth becomes brittle. Traditional crowns and posts do not support this weakened tooth long term. Thus, even a root canal tooth must be restored with special attention paid to biomimetics so that the tooth can function normally for years to come. Dr. Etess and Dr. Howie are practitioners trained in biomimetics who can restore the root canal tooth with strength and flexibility that approaches what the natural tooth was.

What is root canal therapy?
Root canal therapy is the most commonly performed procedure amongst all endodontic treatment procedures. An endodontist performs root canal treatment to treat problems related to the soft inner pulp of a tooth.

Why do I need a root canal?
Root canal treatment is required when nerve tissue inside the teeth degenerates. Without root canal treatment, the infection in the tooth pulp can result in an abscess, which in turn can cause damage to the jawbone. You will need a root canal to save your tooth and to ensure that the tissue around the root of the tooth remains healthy and free from inflammation.

There are several reasons why your tooth may become irritated and inflamed, such as: deep decay, big fillings, trauma to the tooth, a chipped tooth or even repeated dental work.

What are the symptoms or signs that a root canal is needed?

You may need a root canal if a tooth is causing you pain or if the gums adjacent to the tooth are tender and swollen. Another symptom is if the tooth appears discolored and has become extra sensitive to heat and cold. If these symptoms reveal inflamed and infected pulp inside the tooth then your dentist may recommend a root canal procedure.

What are the causes of dental pulp or nerve damage?
Dental caries(cavities), chipped teeth, cracked dental fillings, and injury to the teeth can cause damage to the dental pulp. If dental caries are not treated in time, the decay spreads inwards into the tooth pulp causing nerve damage. Cracked dental fillings allow saliva and harmful bacteria to reach the root canal and infect the pulp. Fractured teeth can expose the pulp. Injury to the teeth can cause pulp damage even if there are no external signs of damage to the inside of the teeth.

Why is root canal therapy necessary?
When the nerves inside the tooth pulp die, the tooth dentin and enamel can no longer receive organic nutrients and moisture. The inflamed tissue surrounding the tooth causes toothache and infection can damage the bones around the teeth. If the damaged pulp is not treated, bacterial infection and inflammation can loosen the tooth and it may have to be removed. Therefore, root canal therapy is necessary to preserve the tooth and also protect the jawbone.

What does the root canal procedure involve?
The procedure takes place in four steps. First, the dentist studies the x-ray of the infected tooth and then administers a local anesthetic. Then, the dentist removes the inflamed nerve tissue through an opening in the crown of the tooth. The root canal is cleaned properly so that no debris or bacteria is left behind. This will ensure that infection and tissue swelling does not happen again. In the second step of the root canal procedure, the dentist will seal off the cleaned root canal cavity. This is to prevent fluids and bacteria from entering the cavity. In the third step the root canal is filled with gutta-percha and adhesive cement mixture. In the fourth and final step, a crown is placed on the sealed tooth which allows the tooth to function normally.

Risks Associated With Root Canal Therapy

After completion of root canal therapy you might feel some discomfort for few days following the treatment. To alleviate the discomfort you can follow the dentist’s recommendation on taking an over the counter pain medication. In more extreme cases the dentist may prescribe an antibiotic and prescription-strength pain reliever to help reduce any remaining infection.

Following root canal therapy you should never chew directly on the repaired tooth until its final restoration has occurred or your tooth may crack. Also, keep in mind that the longer you wait to complete the final restoration the more likely bacteria will reinfect the treated canal requring the therapy to be performed all over again.

Root canal therapy, like every other treatment, is not free of unknowns and complications. There is a possibility that during the procedure a shaping file could break and get stuck in the root canal or that the root of the tooth fractures. In other cases a good seal may not be achieved due to the shape of the root. Lastly, it is possible to miss a hidden root or an extra canal that is in need of treatment. Of course these complications are the exceptions not the norm.

In the event that root canal therapy is unsuccessful, the dentist can discuss alternative options including repeating the treatment or extracting the infected tooth.