Depending on the number of teeth and severity affected, root canals usually require one to two visits as well as follow-up visits. Your dentist will freeze the area around the affected tooth, or may offer you the option of mild sedation. A rubber dental dam is placed and the tooth is then the tooth is drilled to the pulp area either through the top or the back of the tooth. The actual root canals are measured after some of the pulp has been removed. This is done so that Dr. Simone Landau can clean the entire canal, and so that enough of the filling material will be used to completely fill the canal. The actual measuring is done with either x-rays, electronic imaging devices, or a combination of both.
All of the diseased pulp in the tooth is removed, and the canal is cleaned out thoroughly with an antiseptic solution. This solution will clean all of the canals within the tooth. The canals are then filled with gutta percha, a flexible plastic material. A temporary filling is then placed on top of that. A crown or permanent filling will be placed after it is clear that there is no sign of infection. Crowns are are very commonly placed on a tooth after root canal treatment in order to protect the tooth from fracture, because the root canal procedure weakens tooth structure. The crown is usually placed as soon as possible, within a month or less after the root canal procedure is complete.
Expect two to three days of soreness after the procedure, or even longer, according to the severity of the infection prior to the root canal treatment.