how long does it take for a cavity to reach the nerve/ need a root canal?!


Question: How long does it take for a cavity to reach the nerve/ need a root canal?
also, how painful is a root canal, what's the procedure like, is there lots of shots

Answers:

Hello

years ago I had a rotten tooth and I left it years before doing anything about it as I am terrified of going to the dentists. It then broke and had a huge hole in it and smelt funny and blood was coming out of it. By now it was very very painful and I had to get it sorted. My hubby took me to his dentist who is very good. I of course by this time needed a root canal to save the tooth. My tooth was going rotten for a couple of years. So it took about 2 years for the decay to reach the root canal, nerve.

Having a root canal does not hurt and is no worse than having a filling, pain wise. The only thing that hurt was the injections.You normally have to have your tooth x rayed to see how bad the infection is and how many root canals the tooth has etc. The dentist then knows roughly how long it will take and whether they need to give you some antibiotics or not before they start work on your tooth. You will then have to go back and see them another day for the actual root canal treatment.

Because my tooth had a bad infection at the nerve as I had left it so long, it was extra sensitive so I needed 2 shots to numb it up. First shot was in the gum and second was in the actual tooth. The injections only last 2-3 seconds though and just sting and after that you will be nice and numb. You normally then have the tooth drilled and they file out your root canals with long files and clean out all the bacteria and infection. They then put this stuff in there that kills off any remaining infection and germs and normally seal the tooth with a temp filling. This can take about 1 hour, depending on what tooth you have done and how many root canals it has to be cleaned out.

You then go back in 2 weeks time and they will x ray the tooth again to check all infection has gone and they got all the root canals. If everything is good they will then either give you a permanent filling or prepare your tooth for a crown. If you are having a crown, you will have to go back and have that fitted which is easy and fast.

So root canals do not hurt, they just take several appointments and time. Make sure who does your root canal specialises in them so it will have much less chance of failing. When I had my root canal it was like just having a filling, but took much longer. So do not worry. I have had 2 root canals and have a dental phobia. If I can do it, anyone can.

Hope that helps.

myself as I have had 2 root canals



Dental enamel is a very hard material that does not break down quickly, it can take considerable time under the appropriate conditions for bacteria to break through this barrier. The process may take as long as 2 years or, in the total absence of oral hygiene, only 3 weeks.

The process:
The tooth enamel has no nerve endings. If it did, chewing on food would be agony. So the early stages of a cavity are painless. Only after slowly penetrating through the hard enamel do the bacteria reach the next layer, the dentin, a softer material that forms the major part of the tooth. At that point the cavity progresses more quickly and soon reaches the dental pulp, where the nerve is located.

so the basic answer is no one knows, it can take 3 weeks to as liong as 2 years.

for root canal info, this site is brilliant: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Root-canal-…

more on Dental health here http://www.sportsdoctor.com/chg/dental.h…



depends on the quantity and quality of enamel you have left.

root canal can be painful..but the LA significantly decreases the pain. the no. of shots depends on where the tooth is located.




The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories