Here’s a dirty little secret about tooth extractions. Once that tooth is pulled, you never get it back and it never does anything for you again. In fact, you’re left with two bad choices after an extraction: face the consequences of a gap in your smile or figure out how to replace it with an implant or bridge.
Here’s a little fact about root canals that you might not think of. When a root canal in Red Deer succeeds, your tooth is saved. You don’t have to deal with extraction, a gap in your smile, or arranging an implant or bridge. Just how successful are root canals? One study of over 1,000,000 root canals found that 97% of those teeth were still working just fine eight years later.
The bottom line is this: Root canals save teeth from extraction and eliminate the need for implants or bridges. At Gaetz Dental, we hear lots of patients’ questions and concerns about root canal procedures. Many of them are based on outdated information and misconceptions about modern dentistry. Here’s some of the information you should consider to understand what a root canal from a dentist in Red Deer could do to save you from serious tooth infections and eliminate the need for unnecessary tooth extractions.
Technological innovations have changed the game
Root canal procedures can be performed by an experienced general dentist or by a specialist endodontist. Dentists and endodontists who have invested in modern technology and equipment no longer rely on old fashioned X-rays. Today’s root canal procedures are planned with the benefit of 3D scanning and Cone Beam Computed Technology that shows them the entire structure of the affected tooth and root system in three dimensions. With the benefit of that imaging, your dentist near you will know exactly what needs to be done and where to save your tooth.
Everything you’ve heard about root canal being painful? It’s a myth.
Decades ago, root canal procedures were painful. Your grandparents aren’t lying when they tell you so. But just like the cars your grandparents drove are nothing like the cars on today’s car dealership lots, root canal procedures are very different. Root canal procedures performed by dentists in Red Deer today are not painful. In fact, they eliminate pain associated with seriously infected teeth. Precise surgical techniques, custom-tailored anesthesia, professionally trained surgeons, fine-tuned equipment, and diligent aftercare support mean that your root canal will be a relief from pain… not a source of pain.
Root canal procedures don’t end with the root canal itself
Once the root canal procedure is complete, your once infected tooth will be entirely infection-free. Your dentist will clean the tooth, ensure all infected material is removed from the adjacent area, and seal the tooth against re-infection. At that moment, though, your tooth will be structurally weaker than a healthy tooth and vulnerable to potential re-infection. No dentist near you will leave you hanging in that vulnerable position, though. While the root canal procedure is done at that point, your root canal treatment won’t be finished until — after you’ve recovered from surgery — your tooth is capped off with a custom-made crown. That crown will provide all necessary structural support to the tooth and impose a barrier against re-infection. And, at the same time, restore all your normal and healthy dental functions. What do we mean? We mean you’ll be able to eat, chew, smile, laugh, and talk without hesitation or any concern about infection.
If your dentist has told you something needs to be done about a badly infected tooth, don’t be too quick to rule out getting a root canal in Red Deer. With a successful root canal, you’ll be able to keep your tooth and never need to worry about that infection again.