Month: February 2022

The different components of dental implants are rarely considered by most people. However, you would need them if you were missing teeth or had one missing.

Placing Abutments and Making Your Prosthesis with Dental Implants
A dentist may recommend dental implants if you are missing a tooth or teeth. It is an artificial tooth root. Implants fuse with your jawbone to provide a secure platform for prostheses (artificial teeth). An abutment connects the prosthetic tooth to the implant. As part of your treatment, an abutment and prosthesis may be necessary.

Abutments
It is possible to place abutments at the same time as implants. But surgery to place abutments is usually done only after the implants have fused with the jawbone. In most cases, the second procedure is less invasive than the first. The type of abutment you need may depend on your dental needs. As the gum tissue heals around the implant site, healing abutments (also known as healing cuffs) are used. Final abutments are placed after the gum has healed so that the implant and prosthesis can be connected.

The Placement of Abutments

• Exposure of the implant. An incision is made in the gum tissue before a second surgery to place abutments is performed.
• Placement of healing abutments. It is common to attach a healing abutment to an implant temporarily.
• Abutments are then placed permanently. Abutments are placed once the gums have healed.

After Abutments Have Been Placed
Gums usually heal around abutments in 4-6 weeks. Follow your surgeon’s advice regarding what foods to eat during that time. You will also be instructed on how to clean around the abutments. Good cleaning prevents infections and facilitates healing.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!

In general, root canal treatment is very safe. Pain recurrence or side effects are possible in some cases. Here are a few of the possible aftereffects of root canal treatment.

• Tooth discoloration: Nerves are removed from teeth, causing slight discoloration. Many patients do not notice this discoloration. This discoloration is not visible in the majority of cases due to the fact that following root canal treatment a crown is usually required. Where a dental cap is not necessary, bleaching can be used to remove the discoloration.
• Reduced tooth function after treatment: After root canal treatment, the tooth structure becomes slightly weaker. The tooth won’t function as it once did. The risk of fracture is slightly higher compared to other teeth. If you have a root canal treatment on your tooth, you should avoid eating hard foods like almonds or use other teeth instead. One should always get a dental crown fitted to root canal-treated teeth to avoid this risk of fracture.
• Acute infection: In some cases, infected teeth treated with root canals may become infected as well as non-infected teeth. In case the tooth is infected as a result of a root canal procedure, the only treatment is extraction.
• Inflammation: As part of the root canal treatment, the root canal needs to be disinfected, and the pulp from the canal chambers needs to be removed. The pulp is located in the canals at the center of a tooth, and it is filled with nerve endings. The reason behind this is that a bit of pain for a couple of days could be a side effect of getting a root canal treatment.
• Increased swelling: When mechanical cleaning or the chemicals used during root canal treatment irritate long-standing infections in dead teeth, they may flare-up. When this happens in the body, it can lead to a reaction that can cause swelling in that area for a short period of time.

In addition, there may also be some other undiscovered side effects of taking root canal treatment. If any side effects persist, you should schedule an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!

A root canal can cause a lot of anxiety for patients. Root canals indeed have an unpleasant reputation, but you’ll find out that root canals are usually less painful than expected. Dental and facial pain are commonly relieved by root canals.

How Painful Is a Root Canal?

When pulp tissue is infected or inflamed, it can lead to severe toothaches. Endodontic treatment can alleviate that pain. The use of local anesthetic and modern endodontic techniques makes many root canals as painless as cavity fillings. People usually feel pressure and movement during their medical procedure, but no pain is reported.

Anesthetic is used for numbing the affected tooth and its surrounding tissue during endodontic treatment. To remove the pulp, the tooth is then opened so the doctor can access it. A rubber-like material is then injected into the tooth chamber and roots to seal them and prevent infection. A dental filling or a crown is used to restore the treated tooth

Root canal pain after a procedure

You might experience some sensitivity and tenderness in a few hours after your root canal treatment as the local anesthetic wears off. In particular, if you experienced pain or infection before your root canal treatment, this is especially true. Analgesics can be used to manage this sensitivity, which is typically slight and can be treated over-the-counter. You should limit your food intake and avoid eating with the treated tooth until the discomfort has passed, but other activities can be continued as normal. 

Your dentist should be consulted for pain beyond a root canal. Besides taking medication temporarily, there are other ways to manage root canal pain. Until your tooth pain improves, you should avoid eating hard or crunchy foods. Book an appointment with your doctor if pain persists beyond this time.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!

Root canal therapy involves removing an infected or diseased part of a tooth and saving it from extraction. A dentist performs root canal therapy by removing the pulp of an infected tooth, cleaning the root canal, and ultimately re-filling the space with synthetic material. Although root canal therapies have a terrible reputation for being excruciatingly painful, the fact is that advancements in dentistry in the last few years have made root canal therapy tolerable when it comes to pain.

Antibiotics are not absolutely necessary after a root canal. After a root canal, you need very little time to recover, and post-operative care is the best way for fast healing. However, a dentist may recommend antibiotics before root canal to improve the chances of a successful outcome. At times, a dentist may also prescribe non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen or naproxen. 

While talking about antibiotics, it is essential to know about antibiotic resistance. The medical community is worried that antibiotic resistance could become the next big epidemic and wreak havoc. Thus, there has been a growing acknowledgment about the need to abstain from prescribing antibiotics for minor problems, and a root canal recovery timeline is no exception.

Guidelines for Care after a Root Canal Therapy
It is normal to feel sensitivity and pain for two to three days after a root canal procedure. Moreover, slight swelling around the mouth is a part of the natural healing process. Some of the things that you should take care of include.

• Avoid consuming hard foods until the numbness caused by local anesthesia disappears
• Avoid chewing brittle foods until your dentist entirely restores the tooth
• Make sure to brush and floss normally
• Avoid extremely hot or cold foods and beverages for a day or two after the root canal therapy.

Schedule your appointment with a dentist today and get the treatment on time!