Six Components Defining How Long a Tooth Lasts after Root Canal Treatment
The primary reason why you undergo root canal therapy is to save a damaged tooth from extraction. However, does it mean that your tooth will last forever after undergoing the comfortable but overhyped painful treatment? Your dentist recommends root canal therapy because you have infected or inflamed dental pulp possibly affected by tooth decay or trauma. Pulp exposure because of decay or trauma results in extreme discomfort. The infection within the tooth continues spreading, eventually reaching the supporting bone and causing tooth loss.
Many people have questions about getting a root canal and crown spending considerable sums and wonder how long their investment besides the restored tooth will last. This article looks at the six elements contributing to how long you can retain your tooth after root canal treatment.
What Precisely Is Root Canal Treatment?
During root canal treatments, endodontic specialists remove the diseased pulp from within your tooth. They also clean the interior of the tooth and the canals before filling them with gutta-percha. Eventually, dentists recommend you have a permanent filling or dental crown fitted over the tooth for protection and to prevent reinfection. However, several elements determine how long the effects of endodontic treatment lasts. The six factors that help you determine how long you can retain your tooth after Root canal treatment are mentioned below.
1. The Severity of Your Decay
If you have tooth decay, the earlier you get treatment for the condition, you can expect better outcomes. If you have severe decay within the tooth, removing the tooth structure becomes essential for replacement with restorative materials and crowns. The compromised structure of the enamel and dentin are challenging to substitute with dentistry advances. In an infected tooth, the bacteria may pollute the tooth beside the adjacent bone. If you left root canal treatment for too long, it becomes challenging to eradicate the infection despite providing appropriate treatment. Therefore if the bacteria compromise your jawbone, you can expect instability in the treated tooth.
2. The Tooth’s Location
Your teeth have specific functions according to their location. For example, your front teeth functioning as incisors have a single root. Your back teeth or molars where biting pressures are higher are adapted to the forces generated when chewing foods. When you lose tooth structure, the strength of the tooth and its ability to withstand the forces of chewing are also lost and can compromise the stability of the tooth and the endodontic treatment.
3. Success of the Treatment
Whether you are undergoing emergency root canal in Seattle or have scheduled a regular appointment, the procedure is best performed by endodontic specialists who have received additional training to deal with problems within your tooth. The success of the treatment depends on various factors because the practitioner must locate and remove all the diseased tissue from within before disinfecting the tooth chamber. Performing root canals on the back teeth is complicated because the molars have multiple canals that need cleaning and treating. Failure to access or locate any canal can result in root canal failure compromising the stability of your tooth.
4. Your Age and Health
As you age, your teeth become brittle and likely to fracture before and during dental treatment. In addition, older patients also have systemic conditions impacting their health because of medications and symptoms. For example, xerostomia is responsible for developing oral infections because your body doesn’t produce sufficient saliva to clean food particles and debris from your teeth. Classification of the nerve canals can make root canal treatments complicated, compromising your teeth.
5. Failure of Endodontic Treatment
Endodontic treatment can fail for many reasons, including but not limited to the breakdown of the crown or the internal sealant, root fracture, or nerve tissue gone undetected. In addition, you may experience pain and tenderness when biting and swollen gums or loose teeth besides sinus pain indicating symptoms of root canal failure, making it necessary for you to have the treatment again.
6. Root Canal After-Care
Caring for your dental health begins after undergoing dental treatment and does not end when you leave the dental office. The oral hygiene regimen you follow has a significant role to play in whole or a root canal treated tooth lasts. You can avoid or prevent failure of root canals by maintaining excellent dental hygiene and scheduling regular exams for cleanings, and receiving treatments for any problems you experience to achieve long-term dental well-being.
Root canal treatments provided by endodontic specialists are the gold standard for treating a tooth from within. Under optimal conditions, you can expect the treated tooth to last for over two decades. However, if you experience failure for any reason, the contributors can be one of the reasons mentioned in this article but not limited to them alone.