One of the most common dental procedures used to deal with decayed and damaged teeth is a root canal.
This term is also used to refer to the space in the tooth's root.
Let us talk about the root canal as referred first here.
The root canal procedure is done to deal with teeth that have been badly infected by germs.
In the process, the damaged tooth is eliminated and the other healthy teeth are kept from experiencing the same fate.
This is technically and more formally referred to as an endodontic therapy to differentiate the process from the tooth part.
This procedure is not really that painful as long as the whole thing is done completely right.
However, there is a common notion among people that it is absolutely scary to have a root canal done.
It might be a very simple process, but that does not mean that anyone can easily tell a patient to get a canal.
Since the procedure also takes time and some money, there should be enough reason for someone to have it done.
Examples of symptoms include pain when chewing, too much sensitivity to extreme temperatures and abnormal color of the tooth.
One thing about root canals is the fact the dentist might not completely be able to get to all of the root canals in the affected tooth.
As a result, the damage may not be completely rid of and can affect the other healthy teeth.
A root canal might be useful to get the present infection out, but it might no be able to help in certain cases such as too much damage.
The best option for such is tooth extraction followed by an implant to avoid getting the rest of the teeth misaligned.
Overall, a root canal procedure is applicable to certain cases only.
Although common people think this is the best option available considering the fact that we do not technically lose a tooth in the process, the advantage of having the procedure is assessed vis-a-vis the condition of the affected teeth.
This is a decision that must be left on the hands of experienced professionals.