Combined Root Canal & Gum Problems – Carrollton, TX

What We Can Do About It

The origin of the infection may be the pulp tissue of the teeth or the gums. Over time, it spreads from one place to the other and causes a set of symptoms that make it difficult to identify the original problem. We will conduct a thorough analysis of the problem prior to prescribing treatment to have the best chances of saving your tooth.

When the pulp of a tooth is infected, the disease will often move outside the tooth via the root of the tooth and then spread to the periodontal ligament, which surrounds the gum tissue and bone. From here, the infection can extend into the gum tissue, causing gum abscesses or periodontal disease. This will likely cause severe pain in the affected tooth.

The spread of infection can also occur the other way around. In other words, if you have periodontal disease, the infection could travel into the nearby tooth via the accessory canals located in between or on the sides of the tooth roots and into the dental pulp.

Saving a tooth is a challenge when the problem is a combined infection in the gums and root canals. The treatment will depend upon where the infection started. If the infection started in the root canal and traveled to the gums, the tooth can be saved with immediate treatment. If it was the gum disease that came first, it is quite possible that much of the bone may already be lost by the time the infection transferred to the root canal, and the tooth may need to be removed.

Combined root canal and gum problems call for immediate care by a dentist. If left untreated, your pain may go away after some time, but that does not mean the infection has subsided. In fact, it often indicates the death of the affected pulp tissue. All in all, whenever you start to experience dental pain, be sure to give us a call as soon as you can so we can prevent a minor problem from turning into a big one.