Root Canals: Saving Your Smile, One Tooth at a Time

“A root canal, why me?”, we hear you saying. And you’re not alone. Most people want to avoid having a root canal at any time in their life, yet many of us will have to have one at some point.

When the dentist makes the announcement that it may be time for a root canal, many patients find themselves asking questions like: “Why do I need a root canal? I am living with the pain just fine right now.” Or “I’ve heard that root canals don’t work, why would I want to put myself through that procedure for nothing?” Or “Why can’t I put it off for a year and see if it gets better?”

We understand your hesitations, so we want be sure that we thoroughly answer this all-important question once and for all: “Why a root canal?”

Simply put, a root canal allows us to save a tooth that is otherwise headed for extinction. Once decay and infection enter the interior of the tooth where the nerves and blood vessels are, it is only a matter of time before the infection takes over those nerves and the tooth dies. When a tooth dies, we have no alternative but to extract and replace it, either with a dental implant, spacer or denture.

We want you to keep your natural teeth as long as you can during your lifetime. Natural teeth look, feel and function better than artificial teeth and protect the jaw from bone loss. So in order to save a tooth that has reached this inner level of decay, we always recommend root canal therapy, during which we go in and clean the infected area out and seal it off to allow it to heal and prevent further infection.

This will save you pain and money down the road.