Living in Baldwin, Louisiana, you have nature surrounding you — Bayou Teche bordering the town, the Attakapas Wildlife Management Area to the northeast, and Cypremort Point to the southwest. Whether you enjoy spending time in nature or just living a quiet life in this small town, you don’t have to go far if you need advanced care for your teeth.
While dentists can help with the outside of your teeth through cleanings, cosmetic treatments, and restoration, you need someone who specializes in treating the inside of your teeth for deeper problems that impact the pulp. Endodontists treat the pulp inside the teeth to help you to keep your smile. When you need an endodontist in Baldwin LA, you need Southern Endodontic Specialists.
Endodontic care preserves teeth by correcting problems that damage or infect the pulp inside the teeth. In fact, endodontic treatment can save your smile. For most of our patients, the only alternative to endodontic care is tooth extraction. You don’t have to lose your teeth! Let us work to help you maintain your natural teeth with our services.
A cracked tooth causes more than cosmetic problems. First, the crack will only grow the longer you wait to get treatment for it. In some instances, cracks get so long that they split the tooth or make the tooth irreparable through endodontic treatment.
The best way to avoid losing a tooth is to schedule cracked tooth treatment as soon as you recognize that you have a problem. With endodontic care, you’ll have painless treatment of your cracked tooth to stop the crack from lengthening and save your tooth from further damage.
During your visit, the endodontist will take images of your tooth with digital X-rays or a 3D cone beam CT scanner. They will then determine whether you need root canal therapy or endodontic surgery to save your tooth.
Endodontic surgery includes a variety of procedures that require more invasive methods than non-surgical root canal therapy or retreatment. One of the most common operations endodontists perform is apicoectomy.
For an apicoectomy, the endodontist uses local anesthesia to numb your mouth before starting. This ensures that you won’t feel anything during the surgery. Since you don’t need sedation for an apicoectomy, you will also be able to drive yourself home and return to your regular activities as soon as you feel ready.
The procedure itself involves the doctor cutting through the gums to treat infections at the root tips of the teeth or to reach parts inside the canals that a root canal couldn’t.
While root canal therapy is a highly successful procedure, it can fail, requiring retreatment of the tooth. If you have ever had a root canal performed on a tooth, future damage or decay to the tooth will need endodontic retreatment to correct.
During retreatment, the endodontist removes the crown and filling material from the initial root canal. They will then reclean the interior of the tooth and reseal it. You may need to have your dentist place a new crown over the tooth after retreatment.
Like root canal therapy, retreatment is painless and a way to save your tooth.
The most well-known endodontic treatment is root canal therapy. This treatment rids the interior of the tooth of germs that can cause infection and pain.
During a root canal, your endodontist will create a small access hole in the tooth. Through this opening, they will clear out inflamed and infected pulp and other matter from inside the tooth. Once they have thoroughly cleaned out the tooth, they seal and fill the tooth. Since you have anesthesia to numb your mouth, you won’t feel any pain during your root canal. Even during healing, you may only have a little discomfort for a day or two.
While some endodontists use tiny files to clean out teeth when performing root canals, at Southern Endodontic Specialists, we embrace the latest technology in the field.
We use the GentleWave system, which makes getting a root canal painless and minimally invasive. With this system, the endodontist makes a smaller hole in the tooth and uses fewer tools in the tooth that can break off. Instead, they use fluid powered by sound waves to reach all parts of the tooth and thoroughly clean it out. The system makes performing root canals faster, so you will likely only need one visit for your treatment.
Traumatic tooth injuries include injuries that displace teeth from their proper places in their sockets. Dislodged teeth push deeper into the socket or otherwise shift in place. Avulsed teeth get knocked out.
For treatment, the endodontist will stabilize your tooth for a couple of weeks before treating damage done to the pulp from the injury. Root canal therapy is a common follow-up procedure to treat the damage done inside the tooth after a traumatic injury.
Without proper treatment, you can quickly lose a tooth after a traumatic injury if you don’t have proper and prompt treatment. Come see an endodontist for care to avoid permanent tooth loss.
Our staff members include two top endodontists from Southern Louisiana. Dr. Gaudet comes from Houma, and Dr. Ber hails from Thibodaux. After earning their dental degrees and certificates in endodontics, they returned to the area to open their practice.
When you see us at Southern Endodontic Specialists, you’ll have quality endodontic treatment and a caring support staff to ensure that you have a comfortable visit.
If you have an injury to a tooth or your dentist told you that you need a root canal, come see our endodontists at Southern Endodontic Specialists. We have two locations equidistant from you in Baldwin, LA. Feel free to contact us for an appointment at our Houma or Thibodaux locations. We’d love to help you to find relief from tooth pain and keep your natural smile.
