Lu Bo, Doctor of Stomatology, Deputy Chief Physician. He is keen on using simple and clear words to popularize oral health knowledge to the public. The key to maintaining oral health is: "Prevention is better than cure"!
Teeth are one of the indispensable and important organs of our body. As the saying goes, "Toothache is not a disease, but the pain can kill people." It can be seen that if the teeth get angry, no matter how strong a person is, they cannot withstand it. Now when I think back to those nights when I was tortured by toothache, I can’t help but shudder, because the pain is really “horrible”!
Recently I met a patient in the clinic. She had been troubled by the throbbing pain in her right lower row of teeth for several months. In severe cases, she even felt pain in her entire right face. However, she was worried that the nerve twitching would damage her teeth and she wanted to eat. I just took some painkillers and endured it, then went to see a doctor to get my teeth filled. However, when I started to feel pain, even taking a handful of painkillers didn't work. I resisted for half a month before I came to see him.
After taking the film, we found that she had acute pulpitis and needed root canal treatment to completely solve the problem.
The above situations are actually not uncommon in clinical practice. Many patients think that once they have a toothache, they will be fine, so they can just endure it. However, they do not know that dental caries are gradually penetrating into the dental pulp, and finally evolve into medium caries, or even has deep caries , and the caries has damaged the nerve, so root canal treatment is necessary.
So today I will share with you some popular science about root canal treatment, that is, what is the frightening "nerve pump" in the legend.
NO.1. Five steps of root canal treatment, "nerve pumping" is just one of them
Nerve pumping is actually just a simple name. The root canal treatment that the dentist really needs to do is actually treating the infected, inflamed or even necrotic tooth nerve. It is a treatment method to perform debridement , and then fill the root canal tightly with filling material to prevent reinfection.
1. After local anesthesia, remove part of the crown hard tissue and open the pulp chamber;
2. Determine the internal condition and length of the pulp chamber to prepare for thorough root canal cleaning without damaging the periodontal tissue;
3. Remove the pulp The infected tissue inside the chamber is removed, which is what we usually call "nerve pumping";
4, the root canal is flushed with sodium hypochlorite irrigating solution to ensure the disinfection of dead corners everywhere in the root canal to the greatest extent; and then calcium hydroxide is used to seal the medicine . This step is very critical and tests the doctor's professional skills and attentiveness. It is often the case that patients whose root canals are not in place have to re-open the pulp;
5. During the follow-up visit, take out the original medicine and use hot gutta-percha and Non-toxic and non-irritating biocompatible resin paste filling.
NO.2. Is root canal treatment painful? Will it hurt the real teeth? (The answer is: It is definitely uncomfortable, but not very painful.)
First of all, before starting the treatment, the doctor will give the patient local anesthesia to reduce the pain;
Secondly, root canal treatment will not only not hurt the tooth, but also is an effective treatment "Tooth Rescue Project" , if the tooth is subjected to external force, or due to tooth decay , periodontal disease , causing severe inflammation or even necrosis of the dental pulp, root canal treatment is the only possible way to save the tooth. - It can effectively reduce the patient's pain, prevent the spread of infection, and protect teeth as much as possible to avoid the risk of extraction.
NO.3. My tooth doesn’t hurt, why does the doctor want me to extract the nerve of my tooth?
Most people are advised to undergo root canal treatment only when they feel severe tooth pain, but in fact pain is not a prerequisite for root canal treatment.
In many cases, infection in the dental pulp cavity may not manifest as pain.. For example, some caries have affected the dental nerve, causing inflammation or necrosis. At this time, if it is in the chronic inflammation stage, there may not be any pain. However, once the tooth nerve is infected by bacteria, it must be taken out in time and performed root canal treatment. Otherwise, if things go on like this, the infection will spread and you will face the risk of tooth extraction.
Generally speaking, root canal treatment is required when the following three situations occur:
1) There is severe dental caries, the pulp nerve is inflamed and cannot return to normal, and even necrosis occurs;
2) The tooth is impacted by external force, and the tooth The fracture causes the pulp to be exposed;
3) Inflammation of the pulp causes root infection and root resorption;
NO.4. How much does root canal treatment cost and how many times does it need to be completed?
The cost of root canal treatment varies from place to place. For example, root canal treatment in first-tier cities costs at least 2,000-3,000 yuan. In our hospital, the general fee for front teeth ranges from 800-1,000 yuan, and for posterior teeth, it ranges from 1,000-1,200 yuan. , the above does not include the price of dental crowns.
Root canal treatment usually takes 2-3 times to complete the treatment.
