If you’ve been avoiding the dentist because you really, really don’t want a root canal, there’s some bad news: you’re making your dental pain worse! Some people feel more comfortable with the idea of just pulling their tooth rather than getting a root canal, but that’s the wrong mindset to have if you plan on having good oral health for the rest of your life.
Root canal therapy in Huntsville is here to save your natural teeth from ever having to be pulled. Extractions are always your dentist’s last resort. Learn more about root canals and extractions in this week’s blog post.
Signs that You Need Root Canal Therapy
If you need a root canal, you’ll most likely be very aware since the symptoms are normally painful. In fact, the pain that patients normally associate root canals with is caused by the infection set in their tooth, not the actual procedure. But with today’s modern practices like sedation dentistry, local anesthetics, and prescription pain medication, you’ll most likely have a pleasant experience.
Here are the clear signs that you may need root canal treatment:
- You have an abscess or a hole in the jaw bone. This is hard to see with the untrained eye, but your dentist may spot it with dental x-rays.
- You may notice a white, yellow, or red pimple-looking bump that appears on your gum line.
- You could experience positional pain that occurs when you lie down or stand up.
- You may also experience referred that appears in your tooth, jaw, ear, neck, or surrounding teeth.
- You may also feel spontaneous pain that occurs from a hot or cold substance in your mouth like soup or a sip of ice water.
Extractions are a Last Resort
The goal of your dentist is to always help you achieve optimal oral health and maintain it to keep your natural teeth. Your dentist will always do everything in their power to avoid pulling your natural tooth. Not only will you be losing a part of your smile, but then you’ll be forced to explore tooth replacement options. If you leave the pulled tooth’s spot open, you could risk shifting your smile and causing other oral health concerns.
Root canals allow your dentist to not only remove all signs of infection, but seal off your tooth with biocompatible materials and a stable dental crown. This provides newfound stability and keeps your tooth from ever getting infected again!
Although neither of these treatments or procedures is ideal, you must trust that your dentist will only recommend them to you if you truly need them.
Meet Your Dentist
Your endodontist in Huntsville, Dr. Deborah S. Bishop, understands that when you experience a severe toothache, you need someone with specialized training and advanced resources to care for your teeth. Dr. Bishop takes pride in turning people’s negative opinions on root canal treatment in Huntsville into positive ones with her high-quality dental care. If you ever have any questions on how Dr. Bishop can help you relieve your discomfort, feel free to contact our office.