A root canal treatment can save a badly infected or damaged tooth. This treatment involves drilling a hole into a decayed tooth and removing the soft centre, known as the dental pulp. The crown, or surface of the tooth that is used for chewing, may also be replaced if necessary.
When the dental pulp is damaged, bacteria can start to multiply inside the tooth. This can lead to an infection or abscess, which is a pocket of pus that forms at the end of the tooth’s root. Saving your own tooth if possible is important and root canal treatment is often the best way of saving your tooth.
First, the dentist takes an x-ray of the tooth to see the shape of the root canals and determine whether there is any infection in the bone around the tooth. They will use a local anaesthetic to numb the area around the tooth before drilling a hole in the tooth to remove the pulp.
It can take several appointments for the dentist to clean and shape the hole inside the tooth before placing a sterile filling inside. They may also insert a small support into the root canals to strengthen the tooth. At ABC Dental we charge $450 per stage of your root canal treatment.
Call us on 02 8383 1400 or book your appointment online to start your root canal treatment.