As a Toronto dentist, referrals are an important part of your business, and there’s no shortage of specialists you will have to refer your patients to at some point in your practice. Periodontists, orthodontists, prosthodontists, and endodontistsare all specialists you need to know and trust before you send patients. If you’re thinking about sending patients to a new endodontic specialist, or you’re a new practice, it can help to know what makes a good endodontist in Toronto.
Endodontic specialists, as you know, provide root canal therapy when decay or injury have exposed the pulp inside a tooth, causing the patient pain. They can also be treat cracked and traumatized teeth, microsurgery, and endodontic retreatment when a previous treatment misses part of the infected material or the tooth becomes contaminated again before it can be crowned.
Root canal treatments are used to save your teeth and relieve root canal pain; the soft pulp under the dentin, which consists of blood vessels and nerves, can become extraordinarily painful. The tooth is nourished by that tissue but when the pulp of the tooth gets infected, the nerves send a signal to the brain when it is inflamed indicating throbbing pain. If the inflamed pulp is untreated, it leads to root canal pain and a dental abscess. There are many causes for root canal pain; it could be deep tooth decay, infection inside the root, a crown not placed properly, or a chipped tooth.During the root canal procedure, the inflamed, infected pulp of the tooth is removed and the infected area thoroughly cleaned, with a filling used to finally seal it.
When a patient needs a root canal, the pain can be devastating, and there will be instances when you need to refer someone for emergency treatment, but not all Toronto endodontists are capable of accommodating emergency root canal treatment. One clinic that never turns patients away is York Hill Endodontics, a clinic located in the Bathurst and Eglinton area. In addition to endodontic treatment, the midtown clinic also performs microsurgery, retreatment, and treats cracked and broken teeth, which you can find out more about it at Yorkhillendodontics.com.
Microsurgery is a treatment that’s used when a non-surgical root canal isn’t enough to save the tooth, and because it’s rare, it can be difficult to find a specialist capable of performing it. The most common procedure used to save a tooth is apicoectomy, or root-end resection surgery, where an endodontist looks at the gum tissue surrounding the infected tooth close to the bone and the end of the root is removed. X-rays are not enough to locate the small fractures or hidden blocked canals that necessitate microsurgery, which is where a surgical operating microscope can be employed.
Besides a surgical operating microscope, digital radiography and cone beam CT technology improve the safety and accuracy of root canal treatment. Digital radiography has been used by specialists York Hill Endodontics since 2010 because they reduce radiation by 80 percent; they also make it easier to distribute radiographs with your regular dentist. Advanced technology can make a real difference in root canal treatments, so when you’re looking for a new specialist to refer your patients to, consider the equipment they use for imaging and treatment.