Dr. Enrico DiVito is a general and cosmetic dentist who specializes in laser dentistry at the Arizona Center for Laser Dentistry in North Scottsdale. A graduate of Arizona State University and the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, Dr. DiVito returned to Arizona and established a private practice in 1980. He founded the Arizona Center for Laser Dentistry in 2007. Here, he tells us what we need to know about root canal therapy.
Root canal therapy—or RCT, as we call it—in its classic definition is when a nerve in a tooth is infected and needs to be removed. This can be caused by any number of reasons; however tooth decay is usually the most common of those reasons when we see patients come in. This decay can cause excruciating pain throughout the mouth for a lot of people. While the symptoms of this are varied, they can include tooth sensitivity, swelling in the mouth, and pain while chewing certain foods.
What I will do in these situations, when a patient comes in with an extreme amount of tooth decay that is causing all this pain, is to recommend root canal therapy. What that really is, is that we will remove the nerves in a patient’s teeth rather than the roots themselves. This flies against what a lot of people think when they hear about a root canal, since the name implies that the roots themselves are being removed. But this is not really the case.
Because this is a laser dentistry practice here, that means that I will go in there with a laser—rather than a file, liquid, or chemical—to clean out the infected nerve tissue and replace it with a filler that will work to prevent future infections in the mouth. So the nerves stay there; we are just cleaning them out.
Like I said, we do not need to use any drills or painful tools to do this procedure. While files and liquids were commonly used in years past for root canal therapy, we are using lasers now. In fact, one of the laser tips that I helped to invent is one of those that we place inside the tooth during root canal therapy. The laser itself helps to clean out those nerves that are damaged. Another way to explain it is by saying that the laser works to remove bacteria infections from the tooth without the need for any of these painful tools or chemicals. Our new lasers are truly minimizing patient discomfort and saving tooth structure at the same time, so that is a pretty cool way that we are able use lasers in our practice to help patients out.
Although many people have a fear that getting a root canal is going to be painful, that just isn’t the case anymore. While root canals can sometimes take more than one appointment to fully complete, using the proper anesthesia ensures that the process is as pain-free for patients as possible. So worrying about pain is just not something patients need to be doing when they are going in for root canal therapy.
No matter how intimidated someone may be, though, when you are dealing with tooth decay and infection you really do need to come in to see a dentist right away. Undergoing a root canal therapy treatment gives you the best chances of saving that damaged tooth, and teeth that are left untreated could lead to abscesses, or worse.
With these technologies and the lasers that we are using here at the Arizona Center for Laser Dentistry, patients no longer have to be worried when they are undergoing root canal therapy. I say this, because they know that we are treating them with the most minimally invasive treatment method possible, and that undergoing this treatment is going to help them avoid major pain or tooth loss down the line.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
