Dr. David Alfaro will be available to perform routine root canal services, but complex root canal treatments will need to be referred to an endodontic specialist. Our office is equipped with a dental microscope.
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Please read below for more information about root canals.
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Get in touch if you have any questions
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Root Canals
Teeth have various layers; a strong outer coating (enamel), and a middle layer (dentin) which surround the inside of the tooth (pulp).
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The pulp contains nerves, blood vessels, and immune and stem cells that keep the tooth alive and healthy. When bacteria gain access to the pulp due to tooth decay (cavities) or tooth breakage, the pulp can be irreversibly injured causing the cells to die off, and the tooth can become "necrotic".
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As the tooth is dying, sharp shooting dental pain can occur. This pain will persist until the tooth is repaired, or until the nerves inside the tooth die.
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A "necrotic" pulp cannot fight off the bacterial infection, but because the nerves are dead, you cannot actually feel this infection until it gets bad enough that bacterial toxins start spilling out of the end of the root, and begin to irritate the surrounding bone (symptomatic apical periodontitis).
This is when the tooth pain returns!
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If left untreated, this tooth infection can turn into a serious infection of the jawbone, and can even enter the facial tissues. An infected tooth can quickly turn in to one of the few life threatening dental emergencies that exist.
Root canal filling procedures involve the cleaning and disinfection of the inside of the tooth and then filling up the inside of the tooth with a rubber filling material. This is best done under a microscope to better visualize the tiny nerve canals.