As a general dentist at BrightNow! Dental in Colorado, Dr. Mark Moynier performs a broad range of procedures. Dr. Mark Moynier frequently draws on his experience in offering root canal therapy.
A root canal is a common procedure that can save a tooth with diseased or damaged pulp. Any kind of damage to pulp causes the internal structure of the tooth to break down and leads to the growth of bacteria inside the pulp chamber. If left untreated this can lead to more widespread infection and a painful and dangerous abscess at the root of the tooth.
Most patients will suspect that a tooth's pulp is infected or injured because they experience intense pain when they chew or bite with the damaged tooth. Hot or cold temperatures can also cause intense and lasting pain that will often prompt a patient to visit the dentist.
The patient may also notice tenderness and swelling of the gums that surround the tooth. Visual inspection may reveal a pimple on the gums that resists healing or erupts repeatedly in a similar spot. The tooth itself might look darker than usual in color. While these symptoms are less likely to bother the patient enough to make an appointment, they are no less important. Infections that go undetected for long periods of time can do damage to the root(s) and the surrounding bone so that the tooth must be extracted. They can also grow large enough to cause the adjacent teeth to begin to hurt as well.
The presence of these symptoms can help a dentist to determine whether a patient might need root canal therapy. They are not the only clues, however, and they do not enable a patient to self-diagnose. Symptoms that mimic those of teeth needing a root canal may only need a new filling, or a recent filling or crown may need to be adjusted.
The quality of your care is very important and most of the information needed can only be gathered with a clinical examination. That's why scheduling an appointment with a dentist is so important to accurately determine the source of the pain and what the appropriate course of treatment should be.
