What is Root Canal Treatment?
All of your teeth have a nerve supply and so if you eat ice cream it is normal to have some sensitivity, as the nerves will react to the extreme cold. If this nerve supply become compromised for some reason (the main reason is decay) then the nerves in your tooth can die which leads to severe toothache. The nerves run through the centre of your tooth (the root canal of your tooth) and then lead back to join to bigger nerves in your jaw. During root canal treatment your tooth is made numb so that you feel no pain and then the nerves are removed from the centre of your tooth. The canal is thoroughly cleaned and a filling is placed inside to stop bateria or decay from growing. As there are no longer any nerves inside the tooth it will no longer be painful and will resolve and aches or pains that you were having.
Root canal treatment can sound like a scary thing but in reality it is generally straight forward. The experience is similar to having a normal filling carried out but it takes a while longer. It should be pain free and many people actually become so relaxed during their appoitnment that they have fallen asleep during treatment.