Root Canals in Watsonville, CA

A root canal, better known as root canal treatment or endodontic therapy, is a procedure that restores the function of a severely damaged tooth. Root canal procedures help you to avoid an extraction and keep your natural tooth. There are two types of root canals—surgical and non-surgical root canals. While the processes differ slightly, the objective of both is to safeguard your natural smile’s longevity.

You may be a likely candidate for root canals in Watsonville, CA if you’re experiencing a severe toothache, prolonged sensitivity, darkening or discoloration of your tooth, as well as gum tenderness or swelling.

During your appointment, our dentist in Watsonville, CA, will carefully evaluate you to determine if root canal treatment is best suited for your unique circumstances.

Non-Surgical Root Canals

Non-surgical or conventional root canals involve exploring the root canals to remove decayed, damaged, or diseased dental pulp. The dental pulp is the living tissue in your tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves. The dental pulp may suffer damage as a result of traumatic injuries. Unaddressed tooth decay can also lead to infection of the dental pulp.

We utilize low radiation dental x-rays to get in-depth insights into your tooth structure. In particular, our dentist near you will be interested in getting a clear view of your canals’ curvature. This way, the dentist will remove all infected material in its entirety.

Root canals aren’t as scary as they sound. During treatment, our dentist will administer local anesthesia to ensure you don’t feel pain. Patients who struggle with dental anxiety may also get sedation to facilitate relaxation.

The dentist then uses dental files to access your root canals, remove all diseased pulp, and then seals the canals with gutta-percha material. For severely damaged teeth, dental crowns may be required to restore the teeth’ aesthetic and function.

Surgical Root Canals

Sometimes, patients may require surgical root canals, or what is known as endodontic surgery. Surgical root canals are necessary for cases where non-surgical endodontic treatment isn’t sufficient to provide relief.

Where infection has spread significantly, a type of endodontic surgery known as apicoectomy may be necessary.

Apicoectomy, or root-end resection, involves the removal of the root ends of a tooth. During this procedure, our dentist accesses your root ends through an incision in your gums. Next, the dentist cuts off the root ends and then seals the tooth with gutta-percha material to prevent reinfection.

Don’t rush to extract a painful tooth. Contact Watsonville Family Dental, and let us help you explore your options for root canals near you.