SHOULD YOU BE SCARED OF A ROOT CANAL?

Back in 2015, when I was practicing at a private dental practice and there was this one patient who came in for a routine dental checkup and cleaning. After a thorough checkup, I informed him that one of his teeth needed a root canal. He felt bolt out of the blue when I told him about the root canal. His face turned pale, and he was having a hard time digesting the fact that he needed a root canal. It was a huge deal for him, I still remember the words that came out of his mouth- “Oh my God, my family and relatives are going to think that I don’t take enough care of my teeth and my teeth have gone so bad that I need a root canal”. He just seemed very upset about it. It took me a good amount of time to calm him down and to explain him what the actual procedure is and how it is perfectly okay to do root canal. Finally, he started understanding and we reached a point where he agreed to get the root canal treatment done. This incident made me think of how knowing about the procedure can make things easier for patients. And so here I am to share with you about root canal treatment and why one doesn’t need to fear it.

WHAT IS A ROOT CANAL TREATMENT?

Root canal treatment is a procedure that is carried out to relieve dental pain and to save your teeth. A patient usually needs a root canal in the presence of inflammation or infection in the roots of a tooth. During the root canal treatment, the pulp, which is the innermost layer of the tooth, is carefully removed from the tooth. After removing the pulp, the canals are cleaned, disinfected, and shaped followed by the placement of a filling to seal the space.

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