Your dentist should be the first person you call if you have a dental emergency. Most dentists set aside time for emergency procedures. Be sure to keep your dentist's after hours contact information readily available at all times.

Whether at home or traveling, the following tips can help you manage a dental emergency until you can get to the dentist. It is important to remember that with some dental emergencies, seeing a dentist within 30 minutes or less can mean the difference between saving or losing your tooth.

Bothered by a toothache? Fearful that the dental drill will hurt more than the toothache, many people choose to hold off on treatment until the bitter end. In addition, some people still associate a toothache with tooth extraction – and the thought of losing a tooth is just too much to bear.

Fortunately, times are changing, and so are the methods with which your toothache can be treated.

The treatment for a toothache may involve a somewhat invasive dental procedure such as a dental filling, root canal, dental bridge, dental crown or ultimately, a tooth extraction. But treatment today can be comfortable, and in fact, often helps you avoid tooth extraction. In addition, today's cosmetic dentistry options, like dental veneers and dental implants, offer alternatives to traditional treatment, and provide a greater esthetic and functional benefit.

A root canal is a dental procedure that is used to remove diseased pulp tissue from the interior of a tooth. The narrow channels beneath the pulp chamber in the inner part of the tooth are hollowed out and cleaned, and the roots are filed with flexible nickel titanium files.

A tooth is made up of three main components: a hard protective shell referred to as enamel, a softer and sensitive middle layer referred to as dentin and a soft tissue inner layer referred to as dental pulp. Dental pulp is composed of nerve tissue, lymph tissue and blood vessels, and is considered to be the vital part of a tooth. If dental pulp is sufficiently traumatized – whether by exposure to oral bacteria via deep dental caries, a fracture in the tooth that enters the pulp or a forceful blow to the face – the tooth begins to die and root canal therapy is often required in order to prevent or eliminate infection and prevent tooth loss.

A root canal procedure involves tooth disinfection and the removal of all debris (nerve tissue, lymph tissue, blood tissue, bacteria and infection) from the coronal pulp chamber and its associated canals. Once an affected tooth's canals are sufficiently cleansed and shaped, they are filled with materials designed to prevent pain and infection from recurring.

At the first dental visit, you may be prescribed antibiotic treatment for a number of days before the root canal procedure is performed. At the beginning of the procedure, your dentist will anesthetize the tooth sufficiently to prevent pain while performing the root canal procedure.

A drill is then used to access the pulp chamber and associated canals of the tooth. Using flexible nickel titanium pin-like files, the dentist will delicately (but thoroughly) cleanse the length of the canals and tip (or apex) of the root to completely remove all traces of infection or debris. This process is performed with a great deal of care in order to minimize damage or trauma to the surrounding ligaments and bone. To accomplish this, the dentist may use additional tools to measure the root. These tools may include digital X-rays taken during the cleaning phase, an apex locator that works as a sonar probe to locate the tip of the root and a microscope providing up to 32-times magnification.

Your dentist will then disinfect and seal the tooth. Some dentists and endodontists use a special type of heat gun to fill the canal with a material called gutta-percha. Gutta-percha is a natural, biocompatible, anti-bacterial material that expands and seals the hollowed area within the span of about 15 minutes. Other dentists and endodontists may use the bonding process to seal the tooth with a resin material. The dentist then fills the canal's access hole with a temporary or permanent filling.

On occasion, a temporary filling is placed in the hole used to access the root canals in order to allow time for healing. Once the tooth is deemed to be healing properly and the root canal deemed a success, a permanent restoration (such as a dental filling or crown) is placed. During the interim, you may receive medication to manage the soreness and discomfort that may result from the procedure.