In this year’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said something we couldn’t help noticing. He was talking about one of the more controversial measures approved during his administration when he said, “It was about as popular as a root canal.” Regardless of your personal political preferences, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard someone express this sentiment. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misperceptions about root canal treatments. Our dentists at Sunrise Dental want to take some time to explain why root canals aren’t as bad as you (or the President) might believe. We perform this procedure regularly in our offices in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh so we can save our patients from pain. Why Patients Need Root Canals If you need a root canal procedure, it’s because something is seriously wrong with your tooth. Bacteria have reached the inside of your tooth and caused it to become infected. If bacteria eat through the outer layer of your tooth, they have worked their way through dentin before they reached the interior of your tooth. This inner chamber holds soft pulp,  blood vessels, and nerves. This is why you will experience pain when the pulp is inflamed. The nerves and blood vessels are connected to your tooth through the openings in your root. These are your root canals. This also should be an incentive to have your toothache checked as soon as possible. This is not the kind of pain that will just go away without treatment. With that in mind, here are some symptoms that can indicate you need a root canal treatment:

• You feel pain in your tooth when you eat
• You feel pain when you put pressure on your tooth
• Your tooth is sensitive to hot or cold foods and drinks.
• You can see pimple-like bumps on your gums near the source of your pain.
• Your tooth looks dark or discolored.
• Your gums are swollen around the tooth that hurts.

How A Root Canal Can Help Dentists want to save as much of your healthy tooth as possible. Sometimes we do that by placing a dental crown or giving you a filling. Other times, we do that through a root canal procedure. The purpose of a root canal treatment is to remove the infected pulp from the inside of your tooth. In this process, we also remove the nerves and the blood vessels from inside your tooth. What Is A Root Canal Treatment? Here’s what will happen if you come to any Sunrise Dental office for a root canal treatment. The first thing we will do is numb your infected tooth and the surrounding gum tissue. We don’t want to cause you an additional pain during your treatment. If you are particularly worried about pain, we also offer dental sedation options for our patients. Nitrous oxide sedation is administered when you sit down in the chair. In addition to helping you relax, nitrous oxide has an anesthetic quality. Oral conscious sedation is a stronger form of sedation. With this, you will take a pill before your procedure. This will leave you feeling extremely drowsy or put you to sleep. In either case, you will not remember your procedure. You will need someone to take you home, however. After you are numbed or sedated, we will create an opening so we can access the middle of your tooth. Using special tools, we will remove the pulp, nerves and blood vessels from the center of your tooth and from your root canals. Your dentist will then clean out the inside of your tooth and sanitize it to kill any remaining bacteria. We finish the procedure by filling the inside of your tooth with a special material to reduce the risk of reinfection. Depending on what’s need, we will place on overlay or a dental crown on your tooth to seal it off and to provide one more layer of protection. You may feel some soreness for a few days as you recover, but you should notice that the pain of your toothache has gone away. Feel Better Faster With A Root Canal It’s better for you and your oral health if you never need a root canal. To prevent the infections that may cause you to need this procedure, do what you know you should do. Brush your teeth twice a day, floss daily, and visit the dentists at the Sunrise Dental office closest to you for regular cleanings. Again, we have offices in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. To make an appointment, call the office closest to you or fill out our online form.