Dental and oral hygiene is absolutely vital for every single individual, and a failure to maintain good standards will inevitably lead to some complications that will require painful solutions. Once an infection has been spotted on a tooth, it needs to be acted upon immediately before it spreads to other parts of the mouth and the body, and this is when a decision between root canal and extraction needs to be made. Both are pretty painful procedures and need to be handled with extreme care, so it is essential to understand the differences between the two, and also to learn to recognize which procedure is preferable for a certain situation.
Root canal therapy is also known as endodontic therapy, and it is undoubtedly one of the most painful therapies that an individual can go through. However, there are certain situations where the best solution is a root canal. Tooth extraction is a viable alternative many times, but this involves replacing the tooth with an artificial tooth as well, since the empty space between the teeth can cause complications for the neighboring teeth as well. In order to get a better idea, we need to understand both these procedures in detail first.
More About Root Canal
Each tooth has a layer inside it that is known as its pulp. This is the life source of that particular tooth and it contains and regulates all the connective tissues, nerves and blood vessels. Any damage or infection to this part of the tooth will cause severe repercussions and intense physical pain, so any problem that occurs needs to be tackled immediately. In most common cases, the visibility of the presence of an abscess in the tooth is a clear sign that the pulp is degrading. This abscess, or pulp infection, is usually caused by a cavity in the tooth or a toot crack, as this leads to exposure of the pulp to bacteria and dirt particles. This is where the root canal therapy comes into play, and though many people are terrified of this procedure, it is undoubtedly the Dental Boston best solution for such a scenario. Dentists also agree that this is the better option, since it is less invasive, less risky, less expensive in the long run and also saves the tooth from complete extraction. However, people who have to undergo the discomfort may disagree with this.
The root canal process itself involves the removal of all the structures inside the tooth, and the cleaning and the shaping of the hollow pulp chamber. After carrying out a root canal the tooth will be dead, but the risk of further infection will be prevented. The procedure itself can be pretty painful, especially if some of the tools that are used break inside the tooth. Dental science has advanced to a level where root canals can be performed without incident, but there are some cases where some unforeseen events may occur. These can cause severe complications and discomfort, and this is the primary reason why they are greeted with much hesitation and anxiety.
Root Canal vs Extraction
As mentioned, dentists would rather perform a root canal than an extraction, simply because they would try anything to save the tooth. There are certain extreme cases when tooth extraction would be the only option, but they would try to avoid this as far as possible. Extracting a tooth would also require the addition of replacement teeth and dental bridges in order to ensure no overlapping of teeth and also to provide the individual the ability to chew food naturally. Removing a tooth also has its own set of complications so one should not believe that this is a feasible alternative to performing a root canal. Moreover, the cost of tooth extraction could turn out to be much higher than that of root canal in the long run.
The best solution for all this is to simply maintain good dental hygiene and prevent such situations from arising. This is one area where prevention is definitely better than cure, since the cure involves going through lots of pain and bearing a lot of money in the form of bills and other requirements. Getting a root canal will save one's tooth, even though one may have to go through some pain and discomfort for a few days.
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