When Do You Need a Root Canal?

Unfortunately, root canals are something well known by the general public. They are something widely dreaded, and something we only think of with amusement when it is happening to someone else. Which is why the idea of someone asking for one to be performed on them is ridiculous, even to the dentists among us.

Most people would never suspect that the practice of root canals has been around for centuries. They used this practice to conserve teeth that would otherwise have to be pulled. The aristocrats would often purchase the teeth of peasants, which had been pulled simply so they could have them.

In ancient times, many doctors held the belief that worms were to blame for tooth decay. One of the methods that they prescribed for killing the worms was for a person to rinse their mouth in urine, their own of course, twice a day. Thankfully, in 1728 this remedy was finally proven not to be effective, and less disgusting means of treatment were adopted. Eventually, doctors understood that the nerve of the tooth along with the pulp had to be cleaned and removed to eradicate the pain. No urine needed.

In today's world, root canals are not at all uncommon. They provide a means of conserving the tooth by extricating the pulp that is already dead or dying. An abscess can easily form from a tooth pulp becoming infected. So, it is much easier, and less painful, to do a root canal and allow the blood flow to the pulp to be preserved by putting in a root canal and letting the blood flow through it to the pulp.

The primary reason for the pulp inside of a tooth to die is decay. Once decay gets into the pulp, it will quickly spread until it has killed the pulp. Once dead, the pulp releases toxins into the root. When these toxins reach the root tip, they spread to the jawbone, and allow infection to take hold in the jawbone. This infection can even result in death.