You’re probably shocked by the title of this week’s blog post. Can one really look forward to a root canal? Our Oakland dentist and staff like to think so! A huge part of the reason patients fear root canals is that the treatment has become a sort of dental scapegoat, a treatment most often mentioned as the “painful, scary” branch of dentistry. In reality, root canals offer nothing to fear – and the end result of the treamtent is a total absence of tooth pain! This week’s blog post focuses on the positives of endodontic treatment to prepare you for your root canal and ease your nerves.
Oakland Dentist with A Few Great Things About Root Canals – That You May Not Know!
Root canals are not especially painful. Getting familiar with the actual root canal procedure will help you realize that the procedure will not cause significant pain. With the aid of local anesthesia, you should not feel anything during treatment. The procedure is similar to filling a cavity. Your dentist will drill a tiny hole in the lingual (tongue) side of your tooth and remove your tooth nerve and pulp through that hole. He will then fill the tooth to prevent further infection. You will be sore for a few days afterward, but not to a great extent.
Root canals end the pain accompanying an infected tooth. An infected tooth can be agonizing. Your root canal will remove that tooth’s nerve so that it can no longer cause you any pain. Once the swelling accompanying the procedure goes down, that tooth will never hurt you again.
A root canal will save your tooth. As an alternative to an extraction, a root canal prevents you from having a tooth pulled (the procedure for which and resulting restoration work are much more complicated, time-consuming, and expensive than a root canal). Root canals are the conservative way to deal with an infected tooth.
Ready for your root canal? Still have questions? Give our Oakland dentist a call or contact us online for answers.