Before & After


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Problem & Solutions

Our guest was unhappy with his smile.  After years of neglect, tobacco stains had dramatically discolored his teeth.  He wanted to have a bright, white smile that he would be proud to show off!!

Dr. Patel designed a smile for him using a combination of 28 porcelain veneers and crowns so when our guest smiled you would see nothing but a beautiful smile!

Testimonial

“I had been thinking about getting my smile done for a long time, I just kept putting it off.  I’m so glad that I made the decision to do something about it!”

Procedures Performed

For health. For beauty. For you.

What’s inside a tooth?
While the outside of a tooth, the enamel, is the hardest substance in the human body, the inside is soft and vulnerable.

The pulp chamber
This is a hollow area in the center of the tooth

The root
Each tooth has a nerve that enters it at its base, the tip of the root. That nerve runs up the center of the tooth in a canal, the root canal, and into the pulp chamber. With it run blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissue provides the bedding for these structures.

Endodontic problems
When you have an endodontic problem, the affected tooth might have:

  • Throbbing pain, and/or
  • Sensitivity to heat and/or cold
  • Lingering and chronic symptoms
  • Difficulty chewing

Sometimes though, you won’t notice that there’s an infection, and the nerve might even die without you knowing. Somehow your body’s immune mechanisms keep the infection low-grade. But since it continues unchecked, it eventually destroys the tooth’s pulp. This can be discovered through an X-ray.

The growth of infection
Bacteria and their accompanying decay spread in the tooth and reach the center of the root, where the nerve is. In that center are also the blood vessels, which might have brought some white blood cells to fight off the bacteria, except that they’ve already started to decay themselves in that small space, as have the lymph vessels.

The result of this will eventually be an abscess, a swollen and painful infection in and around the tooth.

Root canal therapy
Root canal therapy is the most commonly performed endodontic procedure. It removes the infected pulp tissue and replaces it with a harmless filling material.

Once a tooth has fully matured, the tooth is no longer dependent on the nerve supply for growth and development. The nerve enables the tooth to sense heat, cold and pressure, but it  isn’t crucial to the tooth’s health or our functioning.

So removing the nerve along with the other decayed tissue has no long term consequences.

The procedure
First appointment

  • Dr. Patel will administer a local anesthetic and then open the top of the infected tooth

  • The pulp chamber and root canals are cleaned and shaped for filling and then sealed to prevent further infection

  • The opening gets a temporary filling and is given time to heal

Second appointment

  • The temporary filling is removed and may be replaced with a porcelain filling

  • If extensive cleaning out of the pulp was required, the tooth may need to be capped with a porcelain crown

Contrary to popular belief, the root canal process just as comfortable as having a routine filling does, although it takes longer.

If you think you may have a decayed tooth needing a root canal, contact Dr. Patel as soon as possible.

If you’re interested in the world-class endodontics performed in Dr. Patel’s office, please schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Patel, through our treatment coordinator.