Root canal treatment in Antalya

Signs you may need a root canal treatment

The pulp is the soft tissue with nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth. Deep decay, a crack or an old, deep filling can let bacteria reach it. Typical signs are:

• pain from hot or cold that lingers for minutes after the drink is gone
• throbbing pain that wakes you at night
• pain when you bite or touch the tooth
• swelling, or a small pimple on the gum that releases pus
• a tooth that has turned darker than its neighbours

Sometimes there are no symptoms at all and the infection is found on an X-ray. Not every toothache means a root canal: short sensitivity that stops within seconds often comes from exposed dentine or a small cavity. Your dentist decides after testing the tooth and looking at the X-ray.

How the treatment works, step by step

1. Diagnosis: examination, tests of the tooth and an X-ray. Where the roots are curved or the anatomy is unclear, a 3D scan shows the canals.
2. Anaesthesia and isolation: the tooth is numbed and a thin rubber sheet is placed around it to keep it dry and clean.
3. Cleaning: a small opening is made in the top of the tooth, the pulp is removed, and each canal is measured, shaped with fine files and rinsed with disinfecting solutions.
4. Filling: the canals are sealed with a rubber-like material (gutta-percha) and a sealer, and the result is checked on an X-ray.
5. Restoring: the opening is closed with a filling. Back teeth usually receive a crown.

One visit or two?

When the pulp is inflamed but not yet infected, the treatment can often be finished in one visit. When there is an infection or an abscess at the root tip, the canals are usually cleaned, filled with an antibacterial dressing for a few days to two weeks and sealed at a second visit. Antibiotics are not routinely needed; they are used when an infection spreads, for example with facial swelling or fever.

For patients who travel, the visits are planned within your stay, often alongside crowns. If a tooth needs a longer interval, your dentist tells you before starting.

Why a crown usually follows

After treatment the tooth has lost its living pulp and often a lot of its structure through decay and the access opening. Molars and premolars carry heavy chewing forces and are more likely to crack; studies show that root-canal-treated back teeth last longer when they are covered with a crown. Front teeth with little damage often need only a filling.

A zirconium crown takes 5–7 days in Antalya and can be made in the same trip. Sometimes a post is placed inside the root to hold the core of the crown. Until the crown is fitted, avoid biting hard food on that side.

Will the tooth change colour?

A root-canal-treated tooth can slowly turn grey over the years, because the dentine no longer has a blood supply. The colour alone does not mean the treatment failed. Internal whitening often brings the colour back; if it does not, a veneer or crown matches the tooth to its neighbours.

Success rates and retreatment

In studies, around 85–95 % of root-canal-treated teeth are still in function after 5–10 years. The result is more predictable when there was no infection at the root tip beforehand, when the canals are sealed well and when the tooth is protected with a crown. Cracks running into the root lower the chances considerably.

When an old root canal treatment fails

An earlier treatment can become reinfected, for example when the filling leaks, a canal was missed or the seal was too short. In a retreatment the old filling material is removed and the canals are cleaned and sealed again. Success is lower than for a first treatment, typically around 70–85 %. If the tooth has a crown, it often has to be removed to reach the canals and replaced afterwards. In selected cases a small operation at the root tip (apicoectomy) is an alternative.

Root canal treatment or extraction and an implant?

The figures come from different studies and are not directly comparable. When a tooth can be restored predictably, we keep it. When it cannot, extraction and an implant or a bridge are the alternative, and your plan explains why.

Risks and disadvantages

• Tenderness when biting for 2–3 days is common.
• In a small share of cases a flare-up with pain and swelling occurs in the first days.
• Very curved or calcified canals cannot always be cleaned to their full length.
• A fine instrument can break inside a narrow canal.
• The tooth becomes more brittle and can crack later, especially without a crown.
• If the infection does not heal, retreatment or extraction is needed.

The cost depends on the number of canals (front teeth usually have one, molars three or four), whether it is a first treatment or a retreatment, and whether a post and crown are needed. See prices for what is included.

Aftercare

• Do not eat until the numbness has worn off.
• Ordinary painkillers are enough for most patients for 2–3 days.
• Chew on the other side until the permanent filling or crown is in place.
• Brush and clean between the teeth as usual.
• Contact us if swelling increases, you develop a fever or the pain gets worse after the third day.

Your report includes the X-rays and what was done to each tooth. Ask your dentist at home for a check X-ray after 6–12 months to confirm that the area around the root has healed.