Root Canals

Most people don’t like to think about having root canals done. However, they are actually a very beneficial treatment, especially when performed in the capable hands of Dr. Chad Barber in Plymouth, MI. Throughout his decades of practice, he has enabled many patients to feel better and smile again. Here’s what root canal therapy at Chad W. Barber, DDS will do:

• Complete your procedure in one visit.
• Stop your pain with gentle care.
• Help you relax with amenities like warm blankets, massaging chairs, intraoral cameras so you see what we see, and longer appointment times if needed.
• Most likely save your diseased or damaged tooth.
• Help you avoid tooth extraction and the expense of replacing the tooth.
• Prevent issues from tooth loss like teeth shifting and bone loss.

To set you at ease and make you feel at home during your root canal procedure, you can take your choice of two kinds of sedation:

• Inhaled sedation with “laughing gas.” You will feel slightly euphoric but will remain completely awake.
• Oral conscious sedation with an FDA-approved pill that Dr. Barber will prescribe for you ahead of time. You’ll take it before your appointment so that you’ll feel completely relaxed.

There are quite a few misconceptions about root canal therapy. Most people wrongly believe that it is a very painful procedure, but the fact is most of our patients don’t experience any significant pain and don’t feel anything more than if they were getting a tooth filled.

Many patients also think that root canal treatment is a long, drawn-out procedure. However, we specialize in providing lasting treatment in only one visit! Dr. Barber has the experience and gentle touch that will make sure your visit goes off without a hitch.

Root canal therapy is often necessary when a tooth’s soft inner part, known as the pulp, becomes infected. This can happen either because of an untreated cavity, injury to the tooth, or even repeated dental work on the tooth. The pulp contains blood vessels and nerves and can become quite painful when infected.

To begin your procedure, Dr. Barber will first administer local anesthesia to make sure you don’t feel any pain. Then he will gently make a small hole in the top of the diseased tooth so he can clean out the infected pulp and carefully shape the root canals. A germ-killing medicine will sterilize your tooth and get rid of any remaining bacteria.

Dr. Barber will then fill the root canals of the tooth with a special rubber-like material to seal them off and prevent reinfection. Finally, he will close off the tooth with a temporary filling.

A new crown covering the repaired tooth is the best way to complete your tooth’s restoration. It will protect and strengthen the tooth, giving you back almost all of its original biting and chewing capacity.