Question:
Asking for a friend not online... i'm not 100% sure when root canals
are 'required' (or if they are required even) so forgive the vagueness
of the question, but are there any alternatives to this expensive and
painful procedure? (either mainstream or alternative/complimentary)
Answer:
Prevention and if you get a cavity . . .early intervention.
Filling small cavities is simple and fun. Root canal is neither.
Once you get to that point where a root canal is the treatment of
choice, the only other option is extraction.
Root canals are not usually painful during the procedure, usually done
in one appointment today, and very managable during the post-op phase.
Root canal treatment is painful in a minority of cases. It has a bad rep,
but is a good procedure because it saves an infected tooth. The alternative
is to remove the tooth and replacement with a false tooth can be much more
costly.
Everyone I've ever known has had
substantial pain after a root canal. I've gone through seven myself and
can attest to that fact. Dentists and the specialists hardly ever
follow up with patients to see if there has been pain unless the
patient calls and and asks for pain medication--maybe that's why it's
under reported. I ask other people what pain medication their dental
professional prescribes and they said nothing--they dealt with it on
their own. This is not an easy procedure to go through like you're led
to believe. I'm not alone on this issue. I've talked to a lot of people
to get educated in this area. I think genetics plays a big part.
Someone in this thread stated that prevention was the only solution--
well there is nothing I could have done better to protect my teeth
except maybe floss twice a day instead of once. The genes had the last
say.....
Its how the Doc instruments (or overinstruments) the canal in
many circumstances. Other times, the patient waits until the abscess
is very, very nasty. Both are problematic, in terms of pain.
No abscess comes about in a few brief months. Except of traumatic
origin (falling off your bicycle). A decayed tooth progresses to an
abscessed tooth. You need to dislike dentists for this to happen.
That, or economic conditions and underly friendly dentists. The last
two are my main beef. I advocate prevention and early intervention to
reduce dental bills to a very small amount!
