Some people may have trouble believing this, but your teeth aren’t supposed to hurt. Tooth pain, or pain anywhere in the mouth, is a sign that something’s wrong.
In some cases, you might know what’s causing the pain – you’ve bitten your cheek, or eaten something with sharp edges, for instance. But if you have pain that’s confined to one tooth, or radiating from a tooth into the jaw, you need to see a dentist as soon as possible. Pain can indicate an infection, and prompt action is needed to avoid complications.
Don’t Fear the Dentist
A lot of people who are experiencing dental pain put off seeing the dentist. They’re afraid that they might need a root canal, and they’ve heard horror stories about how awful the experience is.
There are a lot of myths still floating around about root canals. Those myths are based on the primitive (by today’s standards) dentistry of the early 20th century. Today’s root canal is a routine procedure, and most people consider the experience to be no worse than getting a filling.
Myth Number 1: Roots Canals Hurt
Dr. Ricciardi will ensure that the area of your mouth that needs work is totally numb before beginning the root canal procedure. With the tooth nerve numbed, you won’t feel anything. In fact, as soon that the anesthetic kicks in, your pain will be gone! And by the time the procedure is done, your pain won’t return because the nerve that sends pain signals will be gone, too.
Myth Number 2: Root Canals Take a Long Time
Again, that might have been true a century ago, but not today. By most estimates, roots canals take between 30 and 90 minutes with the average around an hour. Your root canal may take longer than getting a filling, but it’s not the ordeal that the myths make it out to be.
Myth Number 3: It’s Better to Just Pull the Tooth
Some poorly-designed research from 1920, which has been repeatedly disproved, stated that root canals led to systemic diseases. Nothing could be further from the truth. Root canals are designed to remove the infected pulp and nerve inside your tooth, and additional antibiotics are usually applied to make sure that every trace of infection is gone. There’s absolutely no valid evidence to support this myth.
Almost every dentist does everything he or she can to preserve your natural teeth. Natural teeth are best for several reasons.
- The tooth root transfers the pressure of chewing to the underlying bone which helps keep it healthy. When a tooth is lost, the bone begins to deteriorate.
- People who are missing teeth tend to chew on the side with more teeth. This can cause premature wear on those teeth and also lead to headaches due to muscle imbalances.
- Root canals don’t require a healing period, unlike extractions. There’s no blood after the procedure.
- Replacing a missing tooth costs money and time.
Myth Number 4: Root Canals Are a Horrible Experience
Surveys have been done around this myth, and the results show that the myth is absolutely untrue. The vast majority of patients who have had a root canal rate the experience as “painless.”
If you have some dental anxiety – and over 130 million people in this country do – we can keep you comfortable and relaxed with nitrous oxide sedation. Also known as laughing gas, nitrous oxide has been used safely for many decades. You remain awake, but unconcerned.
With our other patient comfort amenities, you’ll be surprised at just how comfortable a root canal procedure can be.
Don’t Live With Dental Pain
Dental pain is always a sign that something is wrong. Trying to tough it out is the worst thing you can do. Not only will your pain get worse, you run the risk of losing a tooth that could have been saved and kept fully functional.
Even worse, dental infections can sometime get into the bloodstream. Dental infections have been linked a number of potentially serious health problems including heart disease, lung disease, various cancers, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
If you’re experiencing dental pain, you should treat it as an emergency. Call Joseph A. Ricciardi, DDS PC immediately at 609-752-3293.
We’ll make every effort to see you the same day, relieve your pain, and save your tooth. If you have pain after hours, call! We put our home telephone numbers on our after-hours answering machine.