Myriad of opinions are floating around on Root Canal procedure. While some are facts, many are often myths. These myths often scare people unnecessarily and can cause unwanted loss of tooth while it could have been salvaged. Let us debunk these myths one by one.
- The Procedure is Very Painful
This probably is the most famously absurd myth. Today’s advancement in the field of medical science has given us a lot of options to put down the pain when a root canal procedure is done. Local anesthesia can numb the pain when the treatment is done. For people with severe anxiety, sedation dentistry or sleep dentistry as an option is available. You would observe no pain at all when the treatment is done.
- The Procedure requires multiple sitting
This is also not true. After the procedure is done, in most cases only one more sitting is required. This second sitting is for the cap or crown placement. There is no next visit that is required. But one should make it a habit to regularly visit a dentist no matter he/she has done a root canal procedure or not. The regular dental visits certainly help people who have done the procedure to be rest assured that everything is fine.
- Tooth pain will subside once I get filling. So no need of Root Canal
Sometimes the infection in the tooth would have passed the stage where mere cleaning and filling is not going to help any more. It might provide temporary relief to some but not in a longer run. When the dentist has recommended that Root Canal needs to be done, you need to understand that the infection has reached a stage where a tooth needs to be salvaged from further irreparable loss.
- The Procedure can cause other ailments
This is also an absurd myth. It is based on the assumption that a root canal leaves some infection, and the infections might stay and proliferate to cause ailments. The procedure is all about removing infection / removing the infected nerves and cleaning the teeth. So there is no logic in this myth at all.
- Tooth Extraction is better than Root Canal Procedure
This myth has no sense at all. Why would anyone want to lose a tooth when it can be salvaged. The procedure when done at right time can serve to salvage a tooth instead of just pulling it out. Keeping a tooth is always better for chewing and other functions of the teeth.
- The Procedures are Expensive
This is not entirely true. The cost is dependent on the number of canals that are being treated. Invariably if a tooth is extracted, there is a missing tooth that can cause further damage in terms of bone loss in the jaw and other complications. So you may have to replace the missing tooth after extraction. It is worth mentioning that the cost of getting root canal procedure is lower than the cost of replacing a missing tooth after a tooth extraction.