THIS MAY, WE’RE celebrating Save Your Tooth Month. A healthy mouth is the gateway to a healthier body, and tooth pain is the clearest warning sign that something’s wrong in the mouth. Who are people to turn to when an aching tooth needs saving? Endodontists! Let’s take a look at how endodontists keep patients safe by saving their natural teeth.
It might seem like a lot less trouble to simply pull an infected or diseased tooth instead of trying to save it, but our natural teeth are worth saving. Even with the many amazing advances in the field of prosthodontics (false teeth), nothing can compete with our own teeth for looking, functioning, and lasting like teeth should. And pulling a tooth can actually be more painful than the infection itself!
What’s more, even if a missing tooth is at the back of the mouth where no one else can see it, it can still be a drain on your self-confidence and quality of life. One missing tooth creates a space that the remaining teeth will gradually shift towards. It also can’t stimulate the jaw bone, which will begin to atrophy. Finally, a pulled tooth replaced with an artificial one can require additional dental visits that pile up over time.
A modern endodontist’s office features many advanced tools and equipment that provide different options for saving patients’ natural teeth. Some general dentists offer endodontic treatment, but only an endodontist has the education, training, years of experience, and equipment that can give a tooth its best chance to last a lifetime. The endodontist will evaluate your tooth and determine the best treatment plan for it.
Root canals are viewed pretty negatively by our culture, but this is an outdated idea. When the root canal procedure begins, the tooth pain ends. During the procedure, the endodontist removes the inflamed or infected pulp, carefully cleans and shapes the inside of the root canal, and then fills and seals the space. Next, your general dentist or a restoration specialist will place the crown or other restoration on the tooth to restore it to full function and protect it.
We’re celebrating this tooth-saving procedure for Save Your Tooth Month because it’s really amazing that teeth can be saved this way! It’s the whole reason endodontists spend an extra two years of training to gain their expertise in endodontic procedures.
Not every superhero wears capes and saves civilians from supervillains; some work in endodontic practices, wear lab coats, and spend their days saving teeth! Help us spread the word that root canals and endodontists are all about saving teeth!
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