Imagine sitting in an Endodontics office. This is not your regular dentist; the sitting room is well decorated, but still unfamiliar. There are thoughts racing through your mind about what that pain level of this procedure will be like. Maybe you are already experiencing tooth pain and you don’t want it to get any worse. Or maybe you have no tooth pain and are worried that the procedure will just aggravate something that does not hurt currently. Patients always ask the same questions ‘Will it hurt?’ ‘How much will it hurt?’ ‘How long will I be in pain?’ ‘Can I go back to work after this procedure?’ Getting into a fear-provoking question spiral is not the best way to go into an appointment. There is no reason to feel uneasy when coming into a specialist endodontics office. We just need to clear up the misconceptions about root canals first.
The actual goal of root canal therapy is to get you out of pain/discomfort and save your natural tooth. In most cases, the pain someone is experiencing when they come into the office, with a ‘hot tooth’ (an inflamed tooth that is causing moderate-to-severe pain) is the most severe pain you will have throughout this process and can be easily remedied with an endodontic specialist removing the inflamed tissues during the root canal treatment.
The modern technology advancements we have made through the years have made root canals as painless as possible. The feeling can be comparable with the filling of a cavity under local anesthesia.Understandably, the anxiety associated with a dental treatment is not as easily treated as the procedure itself. At Specialist Care Endodontics, we strive to keep our office as stress-free as possible. We make sure you are comfortable before treatment and use different sedation methods to ensure that you will not experience pain or anxiety during the treatment process. Within our practice we use local anesthesia and nitrous oxide (if requested) to manage the pain and discomfort of the patient throughout the procedure.
The procedure can happen within 20 – 30 minutes (for uncomplicated cases) and then you will be out of pain and on your way back to your routine. The discomfort that a person might experience after a root canal is having a feeling of numbness of the side anesthetized which lasts from 1 to 3 hours. When you are numb it is normally recommended that you do not eat until the numbing has faded away. After a root canal treatment is preformed it is important to follow the care instructions given to you by your endodontist until your follow-up appointment. Then be sure to go back to a general dentist for a final crown restoration.
If you have any additional questions or concerns and to book an appointment contact the office of Dr. Misra – Sauparn at Specialist Care Endodontics (703) 650-9990.
About us: Specialist Care Endodontics is an endodontic practice that is a top pick for general dentists to refer patients in need of root canals and apicoectomies. We are an endodontic specialist serving the northern Virginia area in Woodbridge and Vienna (Close to Tysons Corner). We accept most insurances and do a verification of your benefits before your appointment. We are open Monday – Friday from 8am to 6pm and have Saturday appointments available by request, booking is available online and over the phone. We look forward to hearing from you!