Many of us have heard the comparisons of painful things to the root canal procedure. It's not that bad. There are tiny canals within your tooth that may become infected. This leads to the pulp inside your tooth also becoming inflammed. The dental surgeon cleans this infected portion by way of a root canal procedure. The canals are then filled and the tooth receives a crown. Crowns add to the strength of the tooth itself. The procedure itself takes two to four visits depending on the severity of the case.

If your tooth has a large cavity that causes sevre pain on hot liquids specially while reclining, a root canal is what you would mostly require. An untreated cavity is the most common cause for this. The pulp inside the tooth can become inflamed from trauma or extensive restorative work. It can even be affected from a series of fillings applied in a short period of time. This inflammation usually leads to infection. Pain in the tooth is the most common and obvious symptom.

Depending on the number of teeth and severity, root canals usually require one to three visits not including any follow-up visits. Your dentist will numb the area around the affected tooth, or may offer you the option of mild sedation. The tooth is then drilled to the pulp area either through the top or the back of the tooth. The actual root canals are measured after the decay has been removed. This is done so that the dentist can clean the entire canal, and so that enough of the filling material will be used to completely fill the canal.

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 a bio-inert filling material. A temporary filling is then put on top of that. A crown is then made for the tooth in question. Crowns are most common since after a root canal the tooth is better supported with a crown, which is usually placed as soon as possible, within a month or less.
Expect two to three days of soreness after the procedure, or longer if the infection was severe.

A root canal can eliminate pain while saving the tooth. A crown is used to restore the tooth to its natural shape.