The term “Root Canal” has become almost synonymous with painful dental procedures in popular culture, but that attitude has done more harm than good. A root canal isn’t the frightening procedure that popular culture has made it out to be. In fact, there are a number of persistent myths about root canals that this article will do away with.

First Myth: Root Canals are Incredibly Painful

This is possibly the biggest myth about root canals. First, look at what makes you need a root canal in the first place. When your tooth has a cavity, a dentist can drill out the deteriorating tooth and replace it with a filler material. When a cavity is bad enough, it begins to affect the pulp of the tooth instead of just the harder outer shell. This causes an infection, which in turn causes pain. Therefore, a root canal is called for to remove the deteriorated tooth material, but the tooth is already in pain. 

In fact, a root canal is a procedure designed to relieve pain. If your tooth already hurts, and the procedure makes it not hurt, that is the opposite of causing pain. What about the procedure itself? Well, like most other dental procedures, a root canal begins with the dentist numbing the area. You’d feel the local anesthetic swap, but that doesn’t hurt. You might feel pressure or a pinprick for an anesthetic shot, but that will fully numb your jaw. During the actual procedure, you wouldn’t feel more than pressure as the dentist works.

Where does the myth come from? Well, older forms of root canal treatments did cause pain. This is mostly because we had no good means of numbing the area well enough to prevent that pain. Today, anesthetics are well advanced and stop any pain. If you’re still nervous enough to avoid the treatment, you can even request complete sedation, so you go to sleep and wake up with the procedure completely finished.

Second Myth: If Your Tooth Doesn’t Hurt, you Don’t Need a Root Canal

Just because your tooth doesn’t hurt now, doesn’t mean it won’t hurt in the future. Dentists are trained to know how tooth decay progresses. Your tooth may have a deep cavity that will eventually reach the point where it infects the pulp and root of the tooth. In this instance, a root canal now will be a preventative measure to keep you from having pain later.

In other cases, your tooth may be so badly infected that it is already dead. Dead nerves do not send pain to the brain, and so the tooth does not hurt. However, the decay may be bad enough to cause nearby teeth to start to decay, or could cause dangerous jaw infections. These infections between the tooth and the gums are called abscesses.

Anesthesia is a very pH sensitive chemical. An abscess alters the pH of your gums, which results in the anesthesia not working quite as well. This means that the root canal procedure could potentially be more painful than otherwise. It is far better to have a root canal early, before the pain starts, to avoid this situation.

Third Myth: Root Canals are a Long Procedure

Dental work can take some time. That doesn’t mean that a root canal is a long procedure. Sometimes people believe that a root canal is as serious as surgery, and involves multiple meetings and follow-ups to make sure the tooth is still fine.

In fact, the length of the procedure depends on each individual case. If your infection is deep, your dentist may drill out the infected tooth material and pack the tooth with medicine to kill the infection, with a temporary filling to keep it in place. In this instance, you would require a second appointment to finish the procedure with a permanent crown. However, these cases are essentially the worst cases.

In most instances, the infection either does not yet exist or has not progressed far enough to warrant such extreme measures. A standard root canal can be entirely completed in one session, which often will last only an hour. While some root canals will require a second visit, it is only for the dentist to look to make sure all signs of the infection are gone. Only in the most extreme cases is a second procedure required.

Fourth Myth: Pulling the Tooth is better

Many people believe that a root canal is a temporary procedure. After all, a cavity formed in that part of the tooth once before, it probably will again. The crown may wear out and need to be replaced, necessitating another root canal. It would be better to simply pull the tooth so it can’t have an ongoing effect, especially considering the costs of repeated surgeries.

In fact, a root canal is considered a permanent procedure. In most cases, a tooth fixed by a root canal will last a lifetime with proper care. So where did this myth come from?

The reason a tooth might need a second root canal is because it did not heal properly the first time. Over time, because of the removal of infected nerve tissue in the tooth, it may not have the appropriate amount of blood flow. This makes the tooth grow brittle over time, to the extent that it can eventually break. A poorly fitted crown, leaving parts of the tooth open to higher pressure or future infection, can exacerbate this.

Removing a tooth has negative side effects as well. If the tooth is simply removed, the resulting hole can become infected as it heals. Sufficiently deep holes can erode the jawbone itself. You can opt to get a bridge or an implant instead, but these are much more costly procedures that often take multiple visits to complete. Dental implants can also restrict your diet, affecting your quality of life. Additionally, even the best of today’s dental implants are imperfect and won’t last as long as a healthy tooth. It is far better to keep your natural teeth.

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Call or visit Sacramento Emergency Dental Care in Roseville today. Our office is located at 901 Sunrise Ave. Ste A1 and our telephone number is 916-520-1719. You may also visit our website at www.ASAPdentist.com