Why Do You Need an Endodontist?

When it comes to your dental work, it is always to your advantage to get the best possible care. If you need a root canal, a regular dentist can do it, but an endodontist has the extra training and experience to ensure that it goes smoothly and effortlessly.

An endodontist is a dentist that has completed two or three additional years of training specializing in root canals. While a dentist may perform one or two root canals per week, the endodontist handles as many as 25 in the same period of time.

This specialization means that endodontists are very good at their job and, when it comes to root canals, being good at your job is a requirement, not an option. Endodontists also use more advanced equipment to make their job, and your procedure, easier and less painful.

Root canals are an important part of dental health. Underneath the enamel and dentin of a tooth is the soft pulp that contains blood vessels and nerves. While teeth are growing, this pulp helps to nourish the teeth, but once they are fully formed the teeth can get nutrients from the surrounding tissue.

Endodontics is the care of the pulpy layer. When the pulp gets infected or inflamed, an endodontist goes in and removes the pulp – replacing it with a rubbery material. The tooth is capped and the patient gets to continue enjoying the use of a healthy tooth.

Root canals used to be a cause for stress, but modern advances in techniques and procedures have made this surgical procedure as effortless as a routine filling. A tooth with a root canal will last as long as a natural tooth and, in most cases, the patient will continue to have the full use of it for the life of the tooth.