Is an achy tooth making it tough to eat or causing a lot of discomfort in general? If it’s from an infection that’s reached the pulp, you may need a root canal. Our dentist in Lexington, VA, at Lexington Smiles performs these procedures to treat tooth infections and reduce the risk of needing a tooth extraction. Here’s what you can expect if you need this type of treatment.

Local Anesthesia

We’ll numb the area around your tooth so you won’t feel a thing during this procedure. If needed, we can also provide sedation to ease anxiety.

Opening the Tooth

Our dentist needs to get inside the tooth to treat it. We drill a small hole in order to access the pulp and canals.

Cleaning the Tooth

During this step, we remove the infected material inside the pulp to help stop the infection from spreading. Once all this material is gone, we clean the canals inside the tooth and disinfect them to prevent bacteria from causing another infection.

Filling and Sealing the Tooth

We fill the inside of your tooth with dental material, then place a crown on it. The crown helps restore your tooth and keep it safe from additional infections. Note that crown placement might happen at a follow-up visit instead of on the day of your root canal.

Aftercare

You might have some discomfort when the local anesthesia wears off. We’ll give you instructions on caring for your tooth while it heals.

Visit Us for a Root Canal!

Do you have an infected tooth that requires prompt treatment? Our dental team at Lexington Smiles offers root canals in Lexington, VA. We can treat the affected tooth, saving it from needing to be extracted and preventing the infection from getting worse.