If you are curious or scheduled for a root canal treatment, then you are at the right place. Here we’ll list down the things that you need to know before going in and what to expect during the procedure.
Let’s begin.
What is Root Canal?
First things first. No, a root canal treatment won’t save your dead tooth. Rather it’s a procedure conducted to preserve it.
Yes, we mean “preserve” as in stuffing a dead mummy to preserve his body and not “save” him, as he’s already dead.
By the time you have been prescribed a root canal, it’s because of the likelihood that your tooth is infected or dead. So why would you preserve (mummify) a dead tooth? Well, its because its dead and we’d like to keep it in your mouth without showing a gaping hole the next time you smile.
Why not slug it out open? Well you can pull it out but then you need an implant to fill in the gap or a new artificial one (likely expensive) though folks these days prefer an implant. Well, the safest of all three and the most economical is definitely a root canal- and the right thing to do.
Ever come across those apocalyptic movies where a person gets infected after being bitten and the sole way to save the rest of his body from getting fully infected is by chopping the portion off? Root canal is almost similar as to that- we drill into the infected part of the tooth and throw out the bad material in order to refill it with a stabler one.
There are consequences too. For example, tooth undergone root canal treatment are likely to be more brittle and prone to breakages after the procedure. Its because they have their inner matter scooped out and left with an outer dry shell and prone to damage- in this case, breakage.
Thats why its important to know about the second procedure conducted shortly after root canal- the Crown.
Since we are effectively scooping out the “debris” inside a tooth, it’s necessary to protect it with the Crown, a synthetic material which is much durable than the enamel covering the root canal section of the tooth and secures its integrity for long term.
Hey, but what are the positives and negatives of Root Canal?
Here are the positive:
- You get to keep the tooth.
- And no, since you keep it there is no extraction of the tooth involved
- The bone structure around the infected tooth is largely intact.
As for the negative:
- As all things, there is nothing called as a “100% success”. Root canal might not scoop out all of the debris.
- You need to sit for an hour or two until the process is complete- with your mouth open!
How will the procedure be?
Sitting in a chair for hours is the most boring and weary part. We suggest you come prepared- preferably a podcast or an audio recording collection of sorts in your phone that can keep you focused.
The dentist will carefully remove the infected pulp (or debris) inside your tooth while cleaning it out and shaping the insides of the tooth to further fill it to seal it from becoming further infected.
Believe us, we’ll ensure you are sedated. It’s not a painful process.
After the completion of the process, you need to return for a later date to fix the crown (on your teeth, my lord) if you intend to chew again.
Later on, you’re dead tooth will behave just like any normal tooth. You get to chew, talk or take a bite out as you normally would.
If you are in Dubai, feel free to pay visit to Easy Dental Dubai for consulting our professional dentists.