“We have a problem here” is not a fun thing to here when you’re sitting in a dentist’s chair with your mouth wide open as your dentist pokes around with various tools. There are worse places to hear that phrase (in the middle of a spacewalk, for instance), but if you hear it from a dentist, you may very well be thinking you’ll get a dental filling.
You could. They’re quite common. You probably know the drill (pun very much intended). A filling is used to try and preserve the tooth from sustaining further damage. But not every damaged tooth calls for that and the experts at Springdale Dental Clinic Brampton can help.
Root Canals
If the decay is bad enough and deep enough, your dentist will recommend a root canal. Sometimes the same dentist who gives you a check-up and cleaning twice a year is able to perform the surgery, while there are other times where you’ll have to go to an endodontist. According to the American Association of Endodontists, while all endodontists are dentists, “less than three percent of dentists are endodontists.” They require additional training beyond dental school. Endodontists deal with the pulp inside the tooth, and if you need a root canal, the pulp is infected and has to go. If your teeth is like a garden, infected pulp is like a bunch of weeds that must be pulled to ensure everything stays healthy. We can’t lie; it’s not going to feel amazing even with anesthesia. After the pulp is gone, the endodontist will clean the area, then fill it and seal it. Soon after that, you’ll need to get a permanent crowd, which will likely be placed by your regular dentist. Permanent crowns will generally be made in a dental laboratory like Keating Dental Arts, so your dentist won’t be able to just whip up a permanent crown for you while you wait. It’s a crown, not a burrito.
Extractions
There are some teeth that can’t be saved, for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps you got into a bar fight and took an upper right hook to your jaw, which caused you to lose part of a tooth. After taking a look at it, the dentist decides the rest of it has to go as well. Or it can be much less dramatic than that, too. Even something simple like eating a gummy worm can cause a crown to pop off, revealing the damaged tooth underneath. If a crown comes off, it’s very possible that it can’t be reattached, and the tooth will have be escorted out. There are even cases of extreme poverty where patients who have spent a lifetime without access to proper care must have all their teeth removed.
Those scenarios don’t even including wisdom teeth removal, which is among the most common type of extraction. Wisdom teeth have a nasty habit of coming in and trying to crowd your other teeth, which is very rude of them. When they do that, most dentists will recommend oral surgery to remove them.
The extraction procedure depends on a few factors, including whether or not the tooth is impacted. Sometimes an oral surgeon may even have to remove the tooth in pieces. The good news is that you will receive an anesthetic to numb the area.
After the procedure, you’ll most likely be sent him with painkillers and a gauze pad. Use them both. A bag of ice can also help reduce swelling.
Once you’ve recovered from the surgery can discuss options for filling in the gap, if necessary. Implants or partial dentures may be an option, depending on your budget. Whatever you do going forward, treat your teeth with the utmost care, and don’t forget to floss.
