Root Canal Therapy – Port City Family Dentistry

Root canal therapy, also called endodontic therapy or more commonly shortened to just root canal, is the procedure in which a dentist treats a patient’s infected tooth by drilling open the surface, extracting any infected pulp in the tooth’s root canal, and filling it with a replacement substance. As such, the resulting material is often colloquially (and mistakenly) called a filling. Fillings are actually a separate, less severe process. The operation requires local anesthesia, and causes no immediate pain. After the operation, the patient may have a very sore jaw for a while, and depending on the severity of the root canal, possibly some pain or sensitivity around the afflicted tooth. It is important to have a root canal done as early as possible if it is necessary, because an infected root can potentially lead to much more severe problems and eventually require invasive gum surgery.