New Brunswick Root Canal

Dr. Charles H. Bloom is a dentist and has answered some of the most common questions Bizymoms visitors have about Root Canal.


Q. What is root canal treatment?

A. Root canal treatment involves removing dead or irreversibly inflamed nerve tissue from the inside of the root(s) of a tooth and filling the resulting empty space with a non-resorbable resin material.

Q. What does treatment involve?

A. The procedure entails careful isolation the tooth to prevent saliva contamination, drilling an access hole thru the tooth surface in order to visualize the nerve, using small files to clean out the nerve tissue, and packing the aforementioned non-resorbable resin into the nerve space(s). Often root canal treatment will require more that one appointment to complete and the tooth will need a post, core and crown as the final restoration.

Q. What are the signs of needing endodontic treatment?

A. Signs of a tooth possibly needing root canal treatment are pain, lingering heat sensitivity, extreme sensitivity to cold, swelling, a fistula (looks like a pimple) on the gum near the tooth, and a sensation that the bite is off because the tooth feels too "high." It is important to note that any, some or most of these symptoms may be present, however the final diagnosis depends on evaluation of several factors, including x-rays.

Q. Are painkillers and antibiotics acceptable substitutes for root canal?

A. Some holistic dentists may disagree with me, but I do not believe that pain medications and/or antibiotics are viable substitutions when root canal therapy is indicated. These medications can certainly be utilized as an adjunct to help manage a "hot tooth" during the course of root canal treatment, however on their own, these medications should not be used as a substitute when root canal treatment is indicated. Furthermore, I believe using medications as a substitute is not evidence based and thus should be viewed with extreme caution.

Q. Are there alternative treatments for root canal?

A. If diagnosis indicates root canal therapy is required there really isn’t a lot else you can do. Sometimes the dentist can perform a partial root canal (pulpectomy or pulpotomy), or place a sedative filling - these procedures might keep the problem at bay for a while, but ultimately the root canal must be performed or the tooth should be extracted.

Q. How much will the procedure cost?

A. In my office fees for root canals run approximately $700-1000. If performed by an Endodontist (root canal specialist), these fees will be considerably greater.

Q. Will the tooth need any special care or additional treatment?

A. If the root canal treatment involves removal of a lot of tooth structure or a lot of tooth structure has been lost for some other reason (decay, fracture), usually the tooth will require a post, core and crown afterwards. Sometimes teeth require root canals for other reasons and plenty of good tooth structure remains. In such cases often the tooth can be restored by filling the root canal access hole with a simple filling. In these cases often the tooth will darken over time; this can (sometimes) be eliminated via bleaching. 

Q. How to contact Dr. Bloom if we have further questions?    

A.
Address:
815  Livingston Ave,
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Telephone:(732) 249 6386
Fax:(732) 249 6283
Email: bloomandbloomdmds@embarqmail.com
Website: http://www.bloomandbloomdmds.com