Your Dentist Can Make You Afraid

Hearing that you need a root canal can be a scary thing for a lot of people. The horror stories that have circulated have given a root canal a very bad reputation. Most dentists know this and can be friend or foe in this situation.

Let's take Dentist A. He tells you that a root canal is necessary. He has worry in his eyes, he is looking afraid for you. He tells you he is sorry that this has happened and subconsciously sends the message that a root canal is a bad thing.

The patient of Dentist A will most likely be afraid of the procedure. They have received the message from their dentist, however well meant, that a root canal is a bad thing to experience. They are likely to put off the procedure, shun any advice about it, and wait until the tooth is very painful before proceeding with treatment. Waiting until the tooth is very painful will make the procedure unpleasant, just as Dentist A portrayed to the patient.

Then there's Dentist B. He tells his patient that the tooth needs a root canal but assures his patient that the procedure is pain free if taken care of right away. He answers the patient's questions in a confident manner, and shows no fear to the patient. The patient gets the message that a root canal is no big deal, just a necessary procedure. This patient might research information on the Internet or library about root canals and go into the procedure knowledgeable and confident.

Now, I am not saying that dentists intentionally create fear of root canal in their patients where none was present before.

Different patients have a different level of fear and a good dentist will try to be
sympathetic to those fears. What I am saying is that a dentist can take a vital role in allaying the fears of their patients by instilling their own confidence level to the patient instead of catering to the patient's fear or a root canal's bad reputation.

Many people have expressed that they were anxious and worried before having a root canal only to be pleasantly surprised that it was completely pain free. They entered the office looking fearful and worried and left with a smile on their face. Now, that's the way it should be!

******
There is a lot more to a root canal than most people think. Get the inside scoop for answers to your questions by clicking here for my guide: Root Canal Info

Root Canal - Your Dentist or an Endodontist?

So, your dentist has told you that you need a root canal. Do you let him or her perform the procedure or do you need an Endodontist, root canal specialist?

Before going any further, I need to let you know that I have worked for an Endodontist for over eight years, so my advice will be biased toward Endodontists. But I have my reasons, as I will explain.

What created the need for Endodontists in the first place?

1. A toothache is an emergency that can be caused by a broken tooth or abscess. This patient will need treatment immediately to control the pain, but your dentist has a lot of patients and books a full schedule every day. He can refer this patient to an Endodontist whose schedule is usually more accommodating and know that the patient will be treated correctly.

A caring dentist knows that he/she cannot possibly accommodate all emergencies. They develop a good working relationship with a local Endodontist as a way to offer their patients immediate care. An Endodontist can also be a back-up source for the dentist for vacation days, etc.

2. Root canals can take a lot of time for a dentist. This is a big point so listen carefully. An Endodontist does a lot of root canals and has the procedure down pat. For most patients, the less time spent in the dental chair, the better. My Endodontist can do a molar root canal from start to finish in less than an hour for a normal tooth.

3. Note, I said 'normal'? Teeth can have some funky configurations. Roots can curl around each other, canals can be calcified, or a tooth may have more canals than normal. An Endodontist has seen enough teeth to know what to look for and handle any abnormalities your tooth may have, and in a reasonable amount of time. For example:

a. I have known patients that have been in their dentist's chair for hours for a root canal. I remember one patient that claimed to be in her dentist's chair for 8 hours, and still ended up at the Endodontist for completion of the root canal.

b. I have known many patients that were referred to an Endodontist because the dentist accidentally perforated the root trying to do a root canal. A perforation is when the dental file punches a hole through the outside of the root. That's not to say that an Endodontist never makes this mistake, but it's a whole lot less likely since they handle these files day in and day out. They also have expertise and special materials for repair of perforations.

c. I have know many many patients that had extra canals that the general dentist did not see or treat causing the tooth to abscess afterward creating the need for a retreatment.

d. I have known patients that had two of the canals treated by their dentist only to find the third canal calcified, and had to be referred to an Endodontist to finish the root canal. This is frustrating for the patient, to put it mildly.

When a dentist starts a root canal and cannot finish it, More...

What is Root Canal Treatment?

What is Root Canal Treatment?

Root canal treatment, also called root canal therapy, is a procedure used to treat problems of the inside of the tooth, or the dental pulp. It is a way to save teeth that might otherwise have to be pulled. The treatment could involve from one to three visits to your dentist or Endodontist, (root canal specialist). During treatment, the diseased pulp is removed and the pulp chamber and root canals of the tooth are cleaned and sealed.

The root canals of a tooth are the parts of the pulp cavity which are inside the roots, and in a healthy tooth contain the vital (live) pulp tissues. The pulp is made up of mostly nerves and blood vessels. The nerves inside the tooth are responsible for transmitting feelings of pain and temperature inside the tooth. Root canals have different shapes in each tooth. They can also vary between different people and races, and they also can narrow as you get older.

Root canal treatment is the removal of damaged or infected nerves and tissue from the inside of your tooth's pulp chamber.

Inside the root of every tooth is a nerve, with pulp surrounding and protecting the nerve and a blood supply that extends out the end of the root to your circulatory system. This space inside the root is called the canal space.

Root canal therapy involves drilling a small opening in the tooth, removing the nerve, blood supply and pulp. The canal is then cleaned, shaped, sterilized and the end of the root and canal space is then sealed off with a filling material, much like a cavity or hole in your tooth would be filled. A root canal is a repair to the inside of the tooth and is the only alternative for internal tooth nerve damage or tooth abscess besides having the tooth removed.

Root canal treatment allows you to keep a tooth you would otherwise have to have pulled. When there is infection inside the tooth, there is no cure. The bacteria continue to spread to the nerve and surrounding tissue.

Many people wonder why medications, like antibiodics, cannot cure the infection. The fact is that the tissues swell, cutting off the blood supply so there is no way to get the medication to the area. Yes, they can help surrounding tissue, but cannot reach the inside of the tooth.

Without proper treatment, a diseased tooth will abscess and become a life threatening situation. With your brain only inches away from your tooth, there have been cases of systemic infection that resulted in death.

Root canal treatment can be painless if caught early. Like most problems, the longer you wait the worse it can be to treat. See your dentist right away if you feel any pain with chewing, or to hot and cold foods.
More...

What Causes a Need for a Root Canal?

A lot of people think that bad hygiene is the cause of all teeth problems. This is only one cause of root canal.

The fact is we inherit our teeth from our parents, determining whether we have hard or soft teeth. Soft teeth decay more readily than hard teeth and take extra careful hygiene to prevent decay and other problems.

Decay is the number one cause of root canal. When the decay progresses to the pulp chamber of the tooth, you will usually feel sensitivity when you drink something hot or cold. This doesn’t automatically indicate root canal. Sometimes just getting the decay removed and cavity filled takes care of the problem.

If the decay has progressed too far, bacteria can get into the pulp of the tooth and cause an infection, better known as an abscess in the bone at the end of the root of your tooth and can be seen on x-ray. There are sometimes no symptoms as nerves can die slowly over time. This is one reason dentists take x-rays during your routine cleaning appointments.

If left untreated, the abscess can get larger and literally eat away at the bone in your jaw causing pain and swelling. This can result in whole body systemic infection that could reach your brain and cause death. (This is VERY rare and but has happened). The only remedy is a root canal or have the tooth removed.

Another cause of root canal is from old metal filling that will shrink over time and decay starts underneath it undetected until you feel pain or temperature sensitivity.

The second most common cause of root canal is tooth fracture caused by clenching or grinding your teeth, eating hard foods or chewing ice. Your tooth can develop hairline type fracture(s) or craze lines that let bacteria into the pulp chamber inflaming the nerve or infecting the tooth. You will not be able to ignore the pain this can cause, especially if you bite something hard and increase the fracture. Chewing on the other side of your mouth is ignoring this problem, not curing it. Unfortunately, that is the route some people take until the tooth becomes infected or the pain unbearable.

However, it is noted by many doctors that different people suffer a different degree of pain in their mouths. X-ray of teeth with abscess that would cause severe pain to most average people have had the patient state that it did not hurt at all! It’s amazing, and dangerous, that some people can have severe tooth problems and not feel strong pain.

The third cause of root canal is trauma. People that were hit in the mouth as a child, can have the tooth get infected as an adult. Car accidents, work or sports related injuries, and falls that make you snap your teeth together can cause damage to the nerve that may or may not show up right away.

Also, having deep fillings done on the tooth, taking out old metal fillings and replacing them with composite (white) fillings, or having the tooth drilled down for a crown can be traumatic for some nerves inside the teeth and cause the nerve to get inflamed. Inflamed nerves can sometimes settle down after a short period, or be very painful and require root canal therapy or extraction for relief.

Find more information here: Root Canal Info