Root Canal Myths Debunked: Separating Fact from Fiction

Fear accompanies the term root canal making most people think their dentist is recommending a strict procedure that is likely painful. In reality, root canal therapy has many myths surrounding it, making people think getting the infected tooth extracted is a better option than receiving this tooth-preserving treatment.

Similarly, dental misconceptions will overcome you when your dentist suggests your infected tooth is best saved by receiving a root canal because it has a severe infection inside it that will soon spread to affect your remaining teeth and your jawbone. You don’t accept the dentist’s view to receive the treatment trying to delay it as far as possible, making excuses, and shying away from the therapy.

This article debunks the myths about root canals and provides some realistic views to convince you this endodontic treatment is better than leaving the infection inside your tooth untreated. Kindly continue reading for more details.

Myth #1 — Root Canals Are Painful

Fact : the myth about painful root canals is a popular misconception spread by people without knowledge about endodontic treatment. Modern technology like endodontic microscopes and rotary files make modern-day root canals minimally invasive and painless.

The dentist in Queen Creek, AZ, administers local anesthesia near your affected tooth to ensure the treatment site is entirely numb before your treatment starts. If you are affected by severe dental anxiety, the dentist prescribes sedation to have an hour before your appointment to arrive at their office fully relaxed. Sedation calms your anxiety, making you oblivious to needles injecting anesthesia in your mouth or the dental drill making access holes in your tooth crown. As a result, you think the dentist completed the procedure in a few minutes, even after spending 90 minutes or more in the dentist’s chair.

Myth #2 — Tooth Removal Better Than a Root Canal

Fact : dental offices performing root canals make every effort to save your natural tooth to preserve your smile. In most cases, a root canal helps maintain your natural tooth from extraction because the dentist removes the infected and inflamed dental pulp with the nerves before cleaning and disinfecting the tooth.

Occasionally if you delay the treatment for too long and allow the infection to spread, the dentist has no alternative but to suggest a tooth extraction. In such cases, you will have a gap between your teeth that becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and food particles to remain trapped, creating further infections in your mouth and needing additional treatments. Therefore after getting the tooth removed, you must consider replacing it with solutions like dental implants helpful for restoring your smile.

Myth #3 — Root Canals Cause Illnesses

Fact : the bacteria inside your tooth infecting the dental pulp is responsible for causing illnesses throughout your body to affect your general health and not a root canal; eliminating the infection by getting rid of the bacteria.

The endodontist near you is an expert at eliminating infections inside a tooth to ensure your dental health, besides your overall health, remains optimal after the procedure. Teeth receiving root canals last for many years, making it possible for you to enjoy the functionality of your natural tooth to the fullest and prevent the infection’s spread to your body.

Myth #4 — Root Canals Are Unnecessary When the Tooth Is Not Painful

Fact : the above is another myth spread by people with little knowledge about root canal pain, intermittently affecting them by increasing in severity or even subsiding at times. Unfortunately, the pain returns with more ferocity to make the treatment essential even when no symptoms are visible.

Pain from an infected tooth can subside to make you feel the condition has disappeared. Unfortunately, tooth infections don’t heal by themselves, but the pain returns with more severity in a few days or some time, sending you rushing to an emergency dentist to determine what’s wrong with your tooth.

If dental pulp infections affect a specific tooth in your mouth, it helps if you realize the reality about root canals and receive the treatment without believing the dental myths and waiting endlessly for it because it heaps on you unnecessary expenditure to replace a missing tooth.

After receiving a root canal dental offices suggest you restore the tooth with a dental crown to ensure it regains its strength, appearance, and functionality. If you adhere to the dentist’s advice and get the dental restoration soon after you recover, you enjoy your natural tooth’s benefits for many years because most root canals are successful and last for a decade or more without causing complications.

If Alexander Family Dental suggests you need a root canal, kindly do not hesitate to receive the treatment by believing the myths about this therapy. Instead, concentrate on the reality described here to eliminate a severe infection inside your tooth to preserve it as soon as possible.