By Dr. Presley-Nelson
When a patient is told that they need Endodontics or Root Canal Therapy or Root Canal Treatment (RCT) the first thing that usually comes to mind is a host of old terror stories told to them by coworkers, friends, and family. These stories usually describe some sort of painful experience. Yet Root Canal Treatment is usually a comfortable, minor procedure.
Please consider these ideas:
1) Often a tooth has had a painful abscess before being diagnosed as needing Root Canal Treatment (RCT). Dental abscesses can be very uncomfortable and RCT relieves that pain. However, your well-meaning coworker may just remember the pain, not what relieved it.
2) Modern anesthetics and techniques keep almost all patients comfortable during the procedure. For the first few days after treatment, a tooth may feel sensitive, especially if there was pain or infection before the procedure. Usually over the counter medications easily control this. A prescription for stronger pain medication is often taken home by the patient “just in case.”
3) A few patients who are reading this may have had an uncomfortable experience during a previous
endodontic procedure. Please know that it is unlikely that this experience will be repeated due to advances in the field.
4) Also, please consider that no story about dentistry is “good” without some dramatic embellishment. Consider the sources of the scary story.
Noted San Francisco endodontist, Dr. Paul Weller says, “In the last ten to twenty years, there have been great innovations in the art and science of root canal therapy; such as, 1) Nickel-Titanium rotary instrumentation, 2) Operating Microscopes, 3) Electronic Apex Locators (to determine the exact length of the root) 4) More advanced root canal filling methods, 5) More effective anesthetic solutions, and 6) A better understanding of the use of post-operative pain medications, to name a few. This all means that root canal treatment can be accomplished more quickly and accurately with less patient discomfort, and, generally in one visit. Modern root canal treatment is usually a non-traumatic procedure with minimal post operative discomfort.”