If you know someone who has gone through a root canal procedure, they probably weren’t talking about it with enthusiasm. Of course, root canals are not always pleasant, but they are better than suffering from circumstances in which you require one.
Your dentist checks the signs in case of a dental emergency or during dental cleaning and exam. There are different causes and warning signs that show you might need a root canal sooner than later.
Table of Contents
Parts of the Tooth Involved in Root Canal
It all begins at the outer layers of your tooth. First, the enamel is a material that protects your teeth from corrosion, heat, and pressure. Next, the bacteria in your mouth form a plaque on the teeth that feed on carbohydrates and sugars.
The sugars produce acid that erodes with the tooth, so you should remove the plaque to prevent tooth decay. When your tooth decay is out of control, it eats through the enamel into the dentin.
Dentin is a soft material with tubules leading to the tooth’s pulp. The tubules carry nutrients out, allowing heat and pressure to stimulate the nerve endings of the pulp chamber.
When the decay reaches the pulp of your tooth, the fleshy mass will be infected. Also, veins from your jaw depend on a healthy chamber.
Signs That You Need A Root Canal
These signs include:
Severe Pain on Your Tooth
At Charm Dental – Spring, we often hear our patients complain about experiencing sharp pain when their tooth is under pressure.
The tooth pain is a warning sign. The pulp chamber of your tooth contains blood vessels and nerve endings that might be under pressure due to tooth decay. In addition, if you have a broken or a cracked tooth, the decomposition of that tooth can have a similar effect.
Swelling in the Gums
Suffering from swollen gum might indicate an early infection stage at your tooth’s root. On the other hand, swelling might accompany inflammation, but either way, it shows that the blood flow between your tooth’s pulp and jaw vessels is off. Also, when an infection blocks the junctions of the veins, the swelling will become more noticeable by feeling it in your mouth. Also, you’ll feel it along with the point where your jaw and gums meet.
Experiencing Tooth Discoloration
Bacteria find a breeding ground in a dead tooth. Infection from a pulp chamber of a dead tooth is very likely, and the only way to take care of it is through a root canal. So when your tooth starts appearing black or grey, it is expected to be dead.
When you experience physical trauma, you can rupture the blood vessels in your tooth’s pulp chamber. If you notice your tooth darkening after it had a hit, contact or visit our Spring endodontics specialist to have your problem taken care of.
Trauma to The Jaw
In case of trauma to the jaw, when you have an open wound exposed to open air, bacteria might set in and reach the teeth when an infection goes untreated for too long. Blood vessels are found along the jaw to the tooth through the formed root canal and into the pulp chamber.
Infections in the veins in your jaw and the root canal can have a similar effect as decaying in the dentin and your tooth’s root veins. Trauma in the jaw can be a severe bodily injury, so you should seek emergency dental care or come for root canal therapy and follow up with your dentist until your jaw is healed.
Discoloration of the Gums
Having infections at the roots of your teeth can show up as gum discoloration. For example, you might notice some darker patches than the rest of the shade of your gums. That is a sign of an infection near a tooth’s root. Also, the discoloration can occur when there is infiltrated plaque or a restricted blood flow at the pulp layer of the affected teeth.
Extreme Tooth Sensitivity
Less pain in your tooth and experiencing tooth sensitivity can be a blurry line. However, if your tooth is susceptible to cold or hot foods suddenly, you might need to go for a root canal near you. This is because when the pulp chamber suffers from an infection, its nerves can overreact to heat with a lingering effect.
