If disease or injury has done serious damage to a tooth, a dentist may refer a patient to an endodontist for specialized treatment designed to save the tooth, if at all possible. Sometimes diagnosing and treating problems with a tooth requires extensive specialized training and surgery. Endodontic treatment focuses on treating problems with the soft tissue, or pulp, deep inside each tooth and problems at the base of the tooth, the root, where a nerve connects the tooth with the jaw. Tooth infections, as well as physical damage caused by accidents, often call for specialized care.
Many teeth and gum problems that cause pain are treatable in a simple dental visit, but sometimes an accident or infection requires specialized care. Endodontists often treat teeth after accidents cause serious damage. After a fall, a fight, or an injury while playing sports, the physical damage to a tooth might not be repairable. An endodontist may be able to save a tooth that came loose or fall out. This dental specialist may also be able to repair a tooth that is badly cracked or has a crack below the gum line.
Gum and tooth infections are common dental issues. Often, a gum infection presents symptoms that a dentist and patient can handle with cleaning, prescription mouthwash, and antibiotics. Sometimes, however, an infection inside a tooth creates an abscess that has to be treated by a specialist before the infection causes even more problems.
Pain and swelling are vague indicators of a problem because those symptoms represent many possible causes. A dentist sometimes encounters a complicated tooth or gum issue that requires specialized treatment. Many issues with the soft tissue in or around the root of a tooth fall into this category. The causes of tooth and gum pain can be complicated and difficult to treat without specialized training.
Pulpitis, a condition caused by infected tooth pulp, may send a person to an endodontist's office. These infections usually cause toothaches, but can also lead to serious health problems that require urgent medical care. Some patients need treatment for old crowns and caps. The dentist may refer these patients to an endodontics office to get the old materials removed and replaced.
Endodontists often perform root canals to save teeth. After removing the soft tissue inside the tooth, the patient almost always gets a crown or cap on the treated tooth. An endodontist may also be called upon to treat the tooth root. Sometimes a root canal fails to resolve the pain and swelling. In these situations, a specialized surgical procedure called an apicoectomy may be required. This procedure removes the tip of the root.
Severe tooth damage and infection tend to pose complex dental challenges that require specialized training to handle. An endodontist focuses on saving teeth after injury or infection, whenever this is possible, by performing specialized surgical procedures. When saving the tooth is not possible, this dental specialist can also perform extractions.
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