Why does ‘root canal’ send shivers down spines universally? Are these particularly evocative words, which sound frightening beyond any real understanding of what they refer to? Is root canal treatment as painful as it sounds? There is a sense of digging down into depths and we all know that this is nervy territory. Exposed nerves around the roots of teeth strike agony into the lives of even the hardest folk. There is no getting around the facts when it comes to root canal therapy and none of them are naturally pain free.

The Excruciating Sounds Of Root Canal Therapy & The Rubber Dam

Luckily for us in the 21C, we have pain management to combat the perils of digging around in our gums and jaws with sharp instruments. Numbed to the nines and encased in a protective dam to boot. The rubber dam makes one look like a sock puppet but provides optimal protection. Protection from what? Bacteria in the main, but also it prevents stuff falling into your oral cavity during procedures. The rubber dam is mandatory for root canal treatment in Australia. Plus, blood and saliva are kept away from the dry treatment area. It can take a bit to get used to having a latex barrier stretched across your mouth and mouth breathing can be tricky. Nose breathing is the go, so make sure your snoz is unblocked prior to getting root canal therapy.

Getting To The Root Of RCT & The Pain Factor

Returning to the pain factor during root canal and whether one can bear it. A lot of dental anxiety is in reality in our heads these days, as the pain management is pretty darn good in the 21C. It is easy to work yourself into a state at the thought of root canal therapy. My advice is to be calm and practice calming yourself prior to the treatment. There is plenty of discomfort with the rubber dam and having a lot of drilling going on for a fairly lengthy period in some cases. One must surrender to the procedure in the trust that your dentist knows what she or he is doing and has your best interests at heart. This procedure is challenging for many and no walk in the park. However, the high standards of dentistry in Australia invariably produce good outcomes.

What Is Root Canal Therapy?

Root canal treatment: iis it as painful as it sounds? You will survive the treatment and be thankful when it is over. I know from personal experience that you can emerge feeling grateful that the procedure has been effectively completed.

“A root canal treatment is a dental procedure that removes the infected dental pulp inside the middle of a tooth. It’s also called endodontic treatment.
Each tooth has a canal system which goes from the crown (top surface) to the root. A tooth has up to 4 canals containing dental pulp. The dental pulp is made up of connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels.
When you have a root canal treatment, damaged or infected dental pulp is removed from inside your tooth.
After the pulp is removed, the space is cleaned and disinfected, filled and sealed.
The surface of your tooth that is used for chewing may also be replaced with a filling or a crown.”
– Health Direct

Root Canal & The Crowning Achievement

The actual procedure, which involves the cleaning out of the infected dental pulp and the navigating of all those canals will be performed carefully and thoroughly to the highest standards. However, the replacement by a crown is often the most unreliable amendment. This not due to poor dentistry but by the structural demands upon a crown without enough support. The pressure exerted upon molars is immense and in many instances the procedure to crown previously broken teeth do not succeed. Indeed, this is why dental implants have come to the fore as more permanent fixes for failing natural molars.

Dentistry is out there doing its best and the evolution of dental care has seen great achievements for the betterment of humankind.

Replacing Failing Teeth Is Expensive & Involves Multiple Steps

So is root canal treatment as painful as it sounds? One of the difficulties that patients can suffer is making the right call on which dental procedure as solution for failing teeth. The customer is faced with a quandary and several elements that impact their decision.

On the one hand you have the cost factor to consider. Whether you have private health insurance cover which extends to dental will be an important financial consideration. In the current cost of living crisis, which seems not to be abating, extraction of the rotten or broken tooth is pushing up to $700 to $900 depending upon the type of tooth and time involved in removing it.

This is the most affordable option but it comes at the price of losing the tooth and what that tooth provided in the eating process. It is a sad day when one must farewell a fellow traveller of long standing. One who performed an unsung task pretty faithfully over many years.

These feelings can lead a patient to choose root canal therapy, as a compromise treatment despite it being part of a much more expensive overall procedure. Anywhere from $3K to $6K can be the asking price for root canal followed by a crown. The disappointing aspect of this is that there is no guarantee or money back if the crown breaks off and fails not too far down the track.

Root canal treatment can be a prolonged journey of ultimate failure involving that tooth and its amendments. These things must be faced with clear eyed and unemotional fortitude when making the call. Dental implants are up around $7.7K and upwards for a single tooth these days, even here in Mackay. However, a recent study showed that many of these are still functioning well for their owners after 40 years.

“Single crowns are subjected to several clinical circumstances which could influence the survival and complication rates. One such variable is tooth vitality. Interdental receptors in the dental pulp have a protective role against harmful overloading force and this could be reduced or lost in non‐vital teeth [6]. Furthermore, loss of tooth structure following endodontic and subsequent restorative treatments could weaken the tooth and increase susceptibility of fracture [7, 8]. When the remaining coronal tooth structure is insufficient to retain a restoration, a post is needed [1, 9]. Presence of a post could increase the stress on the root surface and subsequently increase the risk of tooth fracture. “
– Hawthan M, Chrcanovic BR, Larsson C. Retrospective clinical study of tooth-supported single crowns: A multifactor analysis. Eur J Oral Sci. 2022 Aug;130(4):e12871. doi: 10.1111/eos.12871. Epub 2022 May 25. PMID: 35613306; PMCID: PMC9546353. 

Is root canal treatment as painful as it sounds? No, not in raw terms, as pain management is pretty darn good these days. It is, however, a fairly major dental surgery procedure and that can still knock some of us around. Losing teeth is never fun and the replacement technology is, often, an involved and complex business. Dentistry does some wonderful things for us but there is always a price to pay, as there is for all worthwhile things in life.

DISCLAIMER:

The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. Plaza Dental does not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the content.

The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional personal diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a dental or medical condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read or seen on the Site.

 

Services we mentioned: