PHILADELPHIA DENTAL SURGEON DR. RICHARD EIDELSON DDS, FAGD. : ROOT CANAL SURGERY

Voted One of America's Top Dentists • Fellow, Academy of General Dentistry • Assistant Clinical Professor in Oral Medicine 1996 - 1998 • Temple University School of Dentistry • Appointed Director of Dental Services 1998, Simpson House

If you are looking for a dentist in Philadelphia who is an Invisalign Preferred Provider please call our office. Dr. Richard Eidelson has been awarded Invisalign's 2011 PREFERRED DENTAL PROVIDER

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Endodontic root canal surgery

If a tooth is decayed or cracked, it is overly susceptible to a level of infection that can cause tooth loss. In order to prevent infection, or in more serious cases to rid the tooth of an existing infection, endodontic therapy - also known as root canal surgery - becomes a necessary option for our patients.

Many people think that "getting a root canal" entails canals being forced into the solid matter of a tooth, but this is not the case. Each tooth naturally contains three or four root canals, which are filled with tissue, or pulp. When this pulp decays and becomes infected, treatment is required to save the tooth.

During root canal surgery, the root canal is uncovered with a drill and the infected pulp is removed. The empty space is filled with a barium-treated material, so that the procedure can be confirmed as a success by X-ray. This filling is sealed, possibly with the use of a dental crown, to avoid any further chance of infection.

Although the thought of root canal surgery can fill a patient with dread, the only factor that makes the treatment painful is the presence of an abscess, which renders useless any local anesthetic that might be used. Once the affected tooth is free of abscesses, the anesthetic can do its job and the procedure is performed with little to no pain felt on the part of the patient.