Root Canal Treatment in Woodland Hills, CA

• Persistent, spontaneous toothache, especially one that wakes you at night
• Prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold that lingers well after the source is removed. Brief sensitivity is common; sensitivity that continues for thirty seconds or more suggests pulp involvement
• Pain when biting or applying pressure to a specific tooth
• A pimple-like bump on the gum near the tooth, which may drain and taste unpleasant — this is a sinus tract from an abscess
• Swelling of the gum, face or jaw
• A tooth that has darkened relative to its neighbours
• Deep decay or a tooth that has fractured through to the pulp

When You Might Feel Nothing at All

Some teeth need endodontic treatment without producing symptoms. When the pulp dies completely, the pain often stops — and patients understandably conclude the problem resolved itself. It did not. The infection continues silently into the bone.

These cases are usually found on routine radiographs, which is one of the more practical arguments for keeping your six-month examinations.

Go to an Emergency Room If

Facial swelling that is spreading, swelling that affects your eye or the floor of your mouth, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or fever with a dental infection are medical emergencies. A dental infection that spreads into the deep tissues of the face and neck is dangerous. Do not wait for a dental appointment.

Diagnosis

We examine the tooth, test its response to cold and to percussion, and take radiographs. Digital imaging shows the extent of infection and the anatomy of the root canal system — how many canals the tooth has and how they curve. See our technology page for the imaging we use.

Anaesthesia

The tooth and surrounding tissue are thoroughly numbed. This is the step patients worry about most, and it is worth being specific: an actively infected tooth can be harder to anaesthetise because inflammation alters local tissue chemistry. Experienced clinicians expect this and use supplementary techniques — intraligamentary or intraosseous injection — to achieve full numbness. You should not feel the procedure. If you begin to, tell us and we will add anaesthetic.

For patients whose anxiety is the real obstacle, we offer nitrous oxide and oral conscious sedation.

Isolation

A rubber dam is placed to isolate the tooth. It keeps the working field free of saliva and bacteria and stops irrigating solutions reaching the rest of your mouth. It is not optional in properly performed endodontics.

Accessing and Cleaning the Canals

A small opening is made through the crown of the tooth. The infected pulp tissue is removed and the canals are shaped with fine flexible nickel-titanium instruments. An apex locator measures the canal length electronically so instrumentation stops precisely at the root tip.

The canals are irrigated throughout with sodium hypochlorite, which dissolves residual tissue and kills bacteria in the microscopic branches that no instrument can physically reach. This chemical disinfection is where the success of the treatment is actually determined — mechanical shaping alone is insufficient.

Filling and Sealing

The dried canals are filled with gutta-percha, a biocompatible material, together with a sealer that fills the remaining irregularities. This obliterates the space so bacteria cannot recolonise it. A temporary or permanent filling closes the access opening.

The Final Restoration — Do Not Skip This

A tooth that has had endodontic treatment is more brittle. It has lost internal structure, and posterior teeth in particular are subject to forces that will split an unprotected tooth.

Most back teeth need a crown after root canal treatment, sometimes with a post and core to retain it. Front teeth with limited structural loss can occasionally be restored with a bonded filling.

A root canal without its final restoration will fail. The seal degrades, bacteria re-enter, and a tooth that was saved is lost — after you already paid to save it. If cost is the obstacle, tell us, and we will find a way through payment plans rather than let you leave a tooth unprotected.

During the procedure: no, for the overwhelming majority of patients. The tooth is fully anaesthetised. Most report feeling pressure and vibration but no pain, and many are surprised at how unremarkable the experience was compared with what they expected.

Afterwards: expect tenderness for a few days, particularly when biting. The ligament surrounding the root is inflamed and needs time to settle. Over-the-counter ibuprofen usually controls it well. Severe pain, swelling or pain that increases after the third day is not normal — call us.

A point worth making: the pain patients associate with root canals is the pain of the infection that made the treatment necessary. Patients arriving in genuine distress almost always describe substantial relief within a day or two.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics do not cure an infected pulp. There is no blood supply left inside a necrotic canal system for a drug to reach — which is why an antibiotic may temporarily reduce swelling while the source of infection continues untouched. Definitive treatment means removing the infected tissue. Antibiotics are used as an adjunct when there is spreading swelling or systemic involvement, not as a substitute.

Molars cost more because they have more canals and more complex anatomy. Retreatment of a previously treated tooth costs more than initial treatment.

Root canal treatment is a medically necessary procedure, and dental insurance usually covers a meaningful share — commonly 50 to 80 percent of the endodontic treatment, subject to your annual maximum, deductible and any waiting period. Crowns are typically covered at a lower percentage. We verify your benefits and give you a written estimate before treatment begins, and offer payment plans.

Modern endodontic treatment succeeds in roughly 86 to 95 percent of cases, and a well-treated, properly restored tooth frequently lasts for life.

Success depends on how thoroughly the canal system is disinfected and sealed, how quickly and how well the tooth is definitively restored, the tooth's remaining structure, and your ongoing oral hygiene. When treatment does not resolve, options include retreatment, an apicoectomy — a minor surgical procedure at the root tip — or extraction with replacement.

Call (818) 340-3062 or request an appointment.

Dr. Nader Ahdout, DDS · 22116 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91364

Monday to Thursday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM · Friday 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM