Root Canal Treatment Does Not Harm Your Health but Instead Improves It

Have you heard about the popular online myth that root canal therapy causes oral cancer? There is no reason for you to be concerned about what you have heard. You can discard the information as a grandma’s tale that never existed. On the contrary, root canal therapy prevents you from contacting a lot of conditions that you would be susceptible to if you left the situation untreated.

It would be helpful if you tried to understand how the pulp within your tooth got infected to need root canal treatment. It would help you dispel the myths fearlessly because the treatment would have been necessitated by tooth decay, which you allowed to develop by not removing plaque effectively.

The bacteria in the plaque would have created a cavity and continued drilling within your tooth until it reached the softcore of the tooth, the pulp. The pulp contains the nerves, blood vessels, connective tissue of the tooth, and the root. The infection within your tooth undoubtedly has the potential to not only infect the bone but also to spread to other parts of your body through your bloodstream. If left untreated, infection in your tooth can result in issues like respiratory disease, coronary heart disease, strokes, and cancer.

As you can see, root canal therapy is to prevent a host of other issues affecting you and not to harm your health.

How Does the Endodontic Specialist Perform Root Canal Therapy

Before you undergo root canal therapy, the endodontist will examine your tooth and overall health and take x-rays to determine the extent of the damage.

Local or intravenous anesthesia will be administered to you before the endodontist begins working on the infected tooth. The endodontist will drill a tiny access hole in the crown of your tooth to expose the pulp chamber and root canals. He or she will remove the infected pulp before disinfecting the space and placing a filling within the empty chamber. The fillings are placed to prevent further infections.

The access hole drilled on the crown of the tooth is sealed with a rubber-like material called gutta-percha. You are allowed to go home immediately after the procedure if you only received local anesthesia. However, if you have received intravenous anesthesia, you may have to wait at the clinic for some time before proceeding home.

What Happens After Root Canal Treatment?

Root canal treatment eliminates the infection within your tooth. The procedure saves millions of teeth every year in the United States and is incredibly beneficial rather than being fearful. Misconceptions have been spread about how dreadful root canal treatment is, but in stark contrast, many people undergoing the procedure have confirmed that it was no more painful than having a tooth extracted.

Immediately after root canal treatment, you will experience some discomfort because you have undergone a surgical procedure. The dentist would have recommended methods to relieve the pain you will experience and even advised you to stay away from your active routine for at least 24 hours after the procedure. If you feel the pain medications are not helping, you can always contact the endodontist, who will prescribe more potent medications for relief.

Tooth Restoration

Approximately a week after undergoing root canal treatment, you must visit your regular dentist for a follow-up to have the tooth examined and decide whether you want to have a permanent restoration or merely a filling.

Root canal treatment renders your tooth fragile after the removal of the pulp within. Therefore, it needs restoration in the form of a filling or a dental crown at the earliest. The choice of which type of repair you choose is entirely at your discretion, but it would be helpful if you chose a dental crown over a filling because it strengthens the tooth and restores its appearance.

You can avoid a recurrence of the problem by maintaining your dental health in excellent condition. You have to make sure you brush your teeth twice daily, floss at least once every day, and visit your dentist for six-monthly checkups to ensure plaque is not accumulating on your teeth.

Root canal treatments, when recommended, are only to remove infections from within your teeth and to improve your health. Therefore, when suggested to undergo root canal treatment, you can help yourself by leaving the myths aside and believing the dentist’s word to give your overall health a helping hand.