Have you ever experienced tooth pain? Sometimes this pain can manifest itself in a variety of situations. For example, tooth pain can be triggered when you’ve eaten something hot or cold, after you have had a recent filling or received a new dental crown, or even when you are simply chewing on food. If you are experiencing any of these problems, it might be time for your next dental visit.
How Can You Alleviate Tooth Pain?
A careful evaluation by an experienced dentist is needed in order to make an accurate diagnosis and provide you with treatment options. You should inform your dentist of any recent pain you’ve experienced, as knowing this will help the dentist with the diagnosis. A correct diagnosis is the most important step a dentist must take to determine proper course of treatment (if needed).
Not every instance of tooth sensitivity or pain means that a root canal treatment is needed. It depends on the correct assessment of the teeth, as well as your dental history. This assessment includes both a careful clinical examination and any needed X-rays. The dentist uses his or her expert level of understanding of tooth pulp and knowledge of what causes tooth pain to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Most importantly, the treatment recommendation your dentist makes takes into account an important goal: the preservation of tooth structure.
Treatments that preserve tooth structure are not necessarily the easiest or quickest, and they may not be covered by your dental insurance. A tooth is a very complex part of the body and serves a vital function. Once tooth structure is lost, either through accident, disease, or by the dentist’s removal, it is gone forever. As dentists, our goal is to preserve your teeth.
There are four conditions/states a tooth may be in when pain or sensitivity is an issue:
- Normal,
- Reversible pulpitis or pulpal hyperemia,
- Irreversible pulpitis, or
- Necrotic (dead) pulp nerve.
A correct diagnosis is essential, as the treatment for each situation will differ drastically in terms of invasiveness, cost, and loss of tooth structure. It is sometimes hard for clinicians to navigate through symptoms and arrive at a correct diagnosis. Also, a conservative treatment that preserves the tooth may be too time-consuming for your dentist. It is often easier and less time consuming for some dentist to conclude that a “root canal” is needed, when another less-invasive treatment option may be available. When less-invasive treatments can be done, and the structure and nerve of the tooth can be preserved, the difference in clinical outcome, cost, and tooth longevity can be dramatic.
Read more at blog: root canal
