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Root canals can be essential procedures for ensuring that dental pain and problems are addressed without needing to extract the tooth. This procedure is commonly used in cases where the patient's tooth has developed an infection on its interior. While these treatments can be highly effective for treating patients, you might be uninformed about root canals treatments. If this applies to you, learning the following answers to questions will help you to be informed about this type of dental treatment.

How Do You Know If You Need A Root Canal?

There can be many warning signs that a tooth is going to need to undergo a root canal, but it can be easy for patients to mistake these symptoms for routine cavities or general tooth sensitivity. For example, hot and cold sensitivity are common symptoms of needing a root canal, but they also apply to many other dental problems--like tooth whitening.

Another example would be a bump on the gums around the damaged tooth. While this can indicate the need for a root canal, it can also be a sign of severe gum disease or oral cancer. As a result of these facts, only a dentist, like Dental Associates PC, will be able to determine whether or not this procedure is something that you will have to undergo.

What Is Recovering From A Root Canal Like?

A root canal is a major dental procedure, and there are many patients that expect for this procedure to have a lengthy and painful recovery. Fortunately, you should be relieved to learn that most patients will recover from the worst discomfort within a couple of days afterwards.

During the recovery, it is essential for you to keep the mouth as clean as possible to minimize the risk of secondary infection. To this end, you should make sure to periodically use a saltwater rinse throughout the day. Also, you will want to make sure that you floss around the tooth that underwent the root canal. This will help to prevent tartar and plaque from accumulating around the recovering tooth.

Receiving a root canal can be one of the only options for preventing the loss of one of your teeth due to an infection. However, you may have a weak understanding of this procedure, which can make it difficult for you to make sound choices for your dental health. To this end, it is important for you to know that only your dentist will be able to determine whether this treatment is needed and what to expect while undergoing this treatment.