Dealing with an infected tooth can often be painful and very difficult to suffer through. Whenever a nerve is infected, the infection itself can send constant pain through the nerve and throughout your mouth to the nerves in the general area of the infection. Whenever you drink something, the temperature of the beverage, whether hot or cold, can cause significant pain to the infected tooth, especially if the nerve is exposed. Just extracting the tooth outright can get rid of the pain, but you run the risk of the infection entering the bloodstream and going to your heart or brain. This is why dentists in the Tuscaloosa area prefer to clear out the infection with antibiotics before performing any work on the tooth.
For the most part, there are two ways you can deal with an infected tooth after the infection is cleared out properly with medicine. The most common way is through a Root Canal in Tuscaloosa, which is the removal of the nerve inside the roots. The dentist will drill through the enamel and open the tooth up, revealing the inner portion of the roots where the nerves reside. Most front teeth have one or two nerves, while the back molars will have up to four nerves. Once they have removed the nerves from the tooth, they will typically rebuild the tooth using dental cement and cover it with either a veneer or a crown using dental adhesive.
In the event that a Root Canal in Tuscaloosa isn’t viable due to the tooth being broken too badly, a tooth extraction may be called for. When extracting the tooth, a dentist will normally deaden the area with anesthesia before pulling the tooth using specialty tools designed to grip the tooth securely. A dentist will not extract a tooth unless the damage is too severe or has gone below the gum line.
Browse the website of a reputable dental office, such as Rhodes and Rhodes Family Dentistry, for more information on how to better take care of your teeth. They will have information on better at-home dental care, as well as how to keep your teeth healthier through regular visits with your dentist.
