What Are the Benefits of Getting a Root Canal?

There’s nothing worse than enduring a terrible toothache for a night. Your dentist might recommend root canal therapy in Boca Raton if a damaged filling, fractured tooth, abscess, or severe tooth decay is causing you misery.  

Also called endodontic therapy, a root canal procedure involves the removal of infected pulp in the root cavity. The dentist cleans and disinfects the cavity before filling it with gutta-percha or placing a dental crown over the tooth. If you suspect you need a root canal treatment, we’ve compiled its benefits to help you make an informed decision.

Benefits of a Root Canal Procedure

It Saves Your Natural Tooth

Some patients prefer to have a painful tooth pulled than resort to other ways of dealing with a decayed tooth or cavity, believing that this treatment offers a permanent solution. However, leaving gaps between teeth can trigger other serious oral health issues such as malocclusion. Since root canal therapy preserves your natural tooth, your other teeth won’t shift out of their correct positions.  

It Restores Your Tooth’s Appearance and Functionality

Once the dentist cleans and disinfects the tooth’s affected area during a root canal procedure, they use a polymer material called gutta-percha to fill up the cavity. However, they may also use dental crowns to restore the tooth’s visual appeal and functionality.

It Protects Adjacent Teeth

Pulp infection results from the buildup of bacteria inside the pulp chamber that houses the tooth’s connective tissue, nerves, and blood vessels. If left untreated, the infected pulp continues to harbor bacteria until the infection spreads to adjacent teeth. Since root canal therapy resolves the issue by eliminating infection, it prevents harmful microorganisms from invading other existing teeth.

It Preserves Jawbone Integrity

Activities such as chewing and biting preserve the alveolar bone that holds your teeth in place. Losing a tooth through trauma or extraction deprives the jawbone of the stimulation it needs to maintain its volume and density.  

Moreover, the absence of tooth roots triggers the body to stop sending nutrients and other resources to the area where the tooth was. As a result, that section of the jawbone gradually suffers deterioration.  

Dental health experts confirm that a person loses 25% of alveolar bone within the first year following tooth extraction. Unless a dental implant replaces the missing tooth, this bone loss continues with time. Alternatively, a root canal procedure leaves the affected tooth intact. For this reason, it prevents jawbone deterioration.  

It Involves a Painless Procedure

Did you know that more than 15 million Americans undergo root canal therapy each year? Thanks to modern techniques and effective anesthesia, patients who get root canal treatments are six times more likely to describe the procedure as painless than those who have a tooth extracted. In most cases, root canal therapy often leaves patients with less discomfort during recovery than if they have their natural tooth extracted.  

It's Cost-Effective and Efficient

Since dental restorations such as dentures, bridgework, and implants require follow-up appointments, pulling a tooth can take longer than a root canal procedure. Additionally, the cost may be higher. Be glad to know that most dental insurance plans cover root canal treatment.