At Southern Dental Associates at Sugar Land, we are dedicated to saving smiles. We offer root canal treatments to treat internal tooth infections. If you’re experiencing the symptoms of a tooth infection or injury, don’t hesitate to call our friendly dental team. We will do everything we can to provide relief and get you smiling again.

What is a Root Canal?

If the hard exterior enamel of your tooth is damaged due to decay or injury, bacteria can reach the interior of the tooth causing a painful and dangerous infection. In these cases, our dentist recommends root canal treatment to restore your tooth and alleviate your pain. Root canal treatment is a tooth-saving procedure that we use to prevent painful and expensive extractions. If you’re experiencing a toothache, a root canal may be the answer you need.

Inside each of your teeth is soft tissue called dental pulp. The dental pulp is contained inside the pulp chamber consists of blood vessels, nerves and connective tissues. The pulp chamber extends from the crown (the visible part of your tooth above the gums) to the tip of the tooth roots, where the root canals are located.

How Do I Know I Need a Root Canal?

Our dentist recommends root canal treatment when the dental pulp becomes inflamed or infected. The infection or damage can occur due to injury, severe decay, or weakened tooth structure due to previous dental work. Left untreated, the inflammation or infection may cause an abscess.

Signs that you have a tooth abscess include toothache, sensitivity to cold or heat, pain when biting or chewing, discoloration of the tooth, swelling in the jaw or drainage. If you experience any symptoms of a tooth abscess, call our Southern Dental Associates right away. Our team will try to see you as soon as possible.

What are the Benefits of Root Canal Treatment?

While many patients believe tooth extraction is the only way to find relief, our dentist recommends performing root canal treatment to save your tooth. Saving your natural tooth will spare you a painful and expensive tooth extraction. Preserving your tooth also has other benefits, such as maintaining your natural bite and protecting your other teeth from excessive strain due to tooth loss.

Our team will perform root canal treatment to clear out the infected pulp and thoroughly clean the tooth. For your comfort, we will administer local anesthetic to make your experience as pain-free as possible. Once we’ve cleared the infection, we will then fill and seal the tooth to prevent future infection in the root canals. In most cases, we will cap the tooth with a high-quality dental crown. If you need a crown, we can usually place it in one to two appointments to fully restore the look and function of your tooth.