How To Prepare For A Root Canal Treatment

A root canal is one of the few things that we do not wish on our worst enemies. After all, how often do you hear, "I'd rather get a root canal than do that." The pain is enough to force you to flee the dental office. In addition, the amount of time that it takes to endure the pain exacerbates the rampant anxiety.

How to prepare for root canal treatment involves a few simple steps.

What is Root Canal Treatment?

Dentists perform root canals to repair the damage caused by decayed teeth. During the procedure, the dentist and/or dental assistant remove hard to extract pulp from the center of a tooth's cavity. The removal of pulp significantly lowers the chance of the tooth incurring a painful infection that spreads to other teeth adjacent to the damaged tooth. Root canals mitigate teeth pain, prevent infections, and encourage healthy teeth and gums. Despite the long lasting health benefits, most people abhor root canal treatments.

4 Tips on How to Prepare for a Root Canal Treatment

You should never expect the root canal pain to disappear, but you can do some things to make your root canal procedure easier to take.

Do You Need an Antibiotic Before the Procedure?

Antibiotics expunge some of the chemicals that build up to infect damaged teeth. By taking an antibiotic, you lessen the pain and length of treatment. Ask your dentist about taking an antibiotic to reduce swelling and speed up the often-slow healing process after surgery. Make sure you know which antibiotics do not cause severe allergic reactions.

Plenty of Rest Helps

Yes, it is normal for root canal patients to toss and turn the night before the procedure. However, a solid night of sleep reduces the fear and anxiety that many root canal patients feel as they approach the dental office. You can also ask for sedation during a root canal treatment to lower your blood pressure. However, dentists prefer that you remain coherent during root canals, so they have the capability to monitor you accurately.

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs to Alleviate Pain

Depending on your pain tolerance, simply taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) pills according to recommended time intervals should ease your teeth pain. NSAIDs also do a great job of reducing the swelling that commonly develops after root canal surgeries. If you have a low threshold for pain tolerance, ask your dentist about prescribing pain medication, such as Percocet or Vicodin.

A Full Stomach Boosts Your Pain Resistance

A full stomach gives you enough energy to make it through the lengthy dental procedure. Average root canal treatments take between two and three hours to complete. Consuming a generous meal before your root canal treatment ensures you do not succumb to hunger pains during the procedure. A full stomach also may make you drowsy, which heightens the relaxed mental state required to endure a root canal.

The typical response after a root canal is for someone to go, "Whew, I'm glad that's over." Well, it's not completely over, as perhaps the best tip on how to prepare for a root canal involves following up with your dentist for the restorative work necessary to reinvigorate your bright smile. Restorative work that follows a root canal can include teeth crowns and a little more pulp extraction from severely damaged teeth. Dental follow-ups also keep your dentist informed of your condition.

If you have a painful cavity and believe that a root canal may be in order contact us at Pearland Family Dentistry today. Our friendly professionals will make sure that your procedure as as pain-free as possible. If you are concerned about discomfort during procedure such as this consider sedation dentistry which is also a service offered by Pearland Family Dentistry.

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Orthodontics

Orthodontics is the field of dentistry that pertains to the treatment and care of your teeth. In addition, orthodontist is the professional who develops the skills to practice orthodontists and this professional is concerned primarily with the study and treatment of your teeth and improper bite, which is also called the malocclusion. This can result from a tooth irregularity in the improper alignment between your jaw and your teeth.

Orthodontists do not focus on treatments like crowns fillings cleanings or implants.

When a malocclusion occurs it usually means that the upper and lower teeth do not touch each other in the correct proportion. Malocclusion conditions are different with each patient and the method used to treat each patient is different. About 30% of the population that is affected by a malocclusion has to be given orthodontic treatment.

Orthodontic treatments focus on the dental displacement and deals with the modification and control of the growth of facial bones and teeth. If the condition is severe, orthodontics and jaw surgery has to be performed on the patient. In addition, orthodontists will require surgical skills in order to treat the jawbone if this is required for a patient.

More comprehensive orthodontic treatments may require the use of metal wires, which are inserted into braces or brackets and these, are made from stainless steel material or they can be used from more aesthetically pleasing ceramic material. The ceramic material is often colored to match the color of the patient’s teeth. The wires are tightened in a manner that allows the brackets to move the teeth into a position desired by the orthodontist. Other options for orthodontic treatment involve the use of aligner trays, which consists of clear plastic trays that are applied to the teeth to help to move them into the desired location.

There are many appliances that orthodontist can employ in order to read direct the growth of a patient’s jaw. These may include removable appliances like plates headgear or other expansion appliances. These types of functional appliances are generally used on patients who are between the ages of 5 to 14 years. This is because their job can be modified and altered more easily than an adult jaw. This sort of treatment is classified as dentofacial orthodontics, which is followed by a mixed multi-bracket therapy to align the teeth and refine the malocclusion as well.

After the teeth have been aligned with, the patient needs to wear retainers over the teeth so that the teeth remain in the new positions. During this time, the bone reforms to the teeth appropriately. The retainers are worn for a few days or for as long as year and can be taken off a short time during the day. Although the teeth will stay aligned for the rest of the patient’s life, they may tend to crowd together as the patient ages even if the patient has never undergone orthodontic treatment. Accordingly, you can assume that your teeth may move a little bit as you age as an adult.

If you are in need of orthodontics, treatment contacts us at Pearland Family Dentistry today. Are orthodontist can identify the necessary features of your malocclusion and define the nature of your teeth problem. We can help to design a treatment strategy, which is based on the needs of our patients.

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