What are the Myths About Root Canal Treatment?

What is Root Canal Treatment?

It is an endodontic procedure for restoring diseased and damaged teeth. The treatment concentrates on the internal tooth layers, removing any damaged soft tissues and bacteria to restore it. A root canal treatment is the ultimate dental protocol for saving a natural tooth, preventing the need for tooth extractions, and restorative dental measures for replacing teeth.

How to do Root Canal Treatment

After your first dental exam, your dentists will be able to determine whether or not in require root canal treatment. If that is the course of action, your dentist will begin your treatment by numbing your mouth. Depending on the initial situation, the dentist may also recommend sedation dentistry to promote calmness, stillness, and relaxation during the procedure. Not all patients require sedation dentistry.

The process of treating your root canal begins when your dentist drills your tooth enamel. The drilling should get rid of the decayed part of the external tooth structure while creating a small hole. The hole becomes the access point for the root and pulp of your tooth.

Your endodontist must then clean the canal of your tooth, ridding it of bacteria, damaged nerves, blood vessels, connective tissues, and other soft tissues. Only after the tooth is clean enough will the dentist shape and mold it to fill it with a rubber-like material called gutta-percha. It helps fill the hollow of the tooth pulp before the tooth filling seals the tooth entirely.

After a tooth filling, the procedure is more or less complete. However, some patients may need to receive a dental crown to hold the tooth in place and reinforce its strength if the tooth filling is too large for the tooth structure.

Popular Myths about Root Canal

1. It is an extremely painful procedure – many patients dread the idea of seeking root canal treatment in Sunset Hills, MO, because of the anticipated pain levels.
2. It damages your tooth structure – understand how dentists near you perform root canal procedures to comprehend how the process cannot compromise your tooth structure.
3. The tooth will fall off eventually – after a root canal, a tooth is essentially dead and may fall off easily. However, it is only a myth.
4. You must be in pain to need a root canal procedure.

Facts About Root Canal Treatment

Understanding the facts about root canal therapies acclaimed by dentists in 63127 may help you demystify some popular myths you have been subscribing to for a long. Some facts you should know are:

1. The procedure is painless – although the treatment may require invasive measures, your dentists at My STL Dentist will use different dental protocols to counter pain and discomfort. Local anesthesia will numb your mouth while various types of sedation relax your nerves, helping you remain calm throughout your treatment. After your treatment, your mouth may feel sore and your teeth more sensitive than usual because of the dental work. It is nothing that a little pain medication cannot handle. Besides, these symptoms will only last a few days after your procedure.
2. A root canal treatment preserves your tooth – a dentist near you will recommend a root canal process to save a tooth that would otherwise need removal. Usually, the endodontic procedure will remove the damaged part of the tooth, preserving the rest of the tooth structure. If after your treatment the dentist determines that the tooth is too weak, (s)he will recommend getting a dental crown over it.
3. A tooth can last many years after a root canal procedure. Some people believe that once a tooth incurs damage to the nerve endings, it dies and cannot be functional. On the contrary, root canal treatments are proof that mature teeth can survive without nerve endings blood vessels. Essentially, the tooth will not have any sensations because it lacks nerve endings. However, as long as it remains attached to the jawbone, the treated tooth will remain functional as the other teeth in your mouth.
4. Root canal treatments can stop infections even before they begin. It means that your dentist can recommend the procedure to help save a tooth that seems perfectly healthy but is at a high risk of infection. It is not necessarily when you have severe toothaches that you need a root canal.