Tooth infections are always a cause for concern, especially if the infection gets harder to deal with. If an infection is left to persist for an extended period of time, it may lead to severe amounts of pain, or worse, a spread of the infection as it stands. To be able to take care of this and to alleviate the pain that one experiences, dentists generally recommend two courses of action. The first course of action that they prescribe is root canals and in severe cases, the course of action offered is usually tooth extraction.

Many patients are of the opinion that tooth extraction is the better option when experiencing this kind of infections. While tooth extractions might be quick and easy to do, they are not always the best course of action that one should take. If you are experiencing some kind of tooth infection, and are experiencing a severe amount of pain, it is best to be familiar with both the choices that you have access to and both the routes that you may have to take. This means that you should be aware of what a root canal treatment entails, as well as what tooth extraction procedures consist of.

Root Canal Treatments

One of the first courses of treatment that an individual is usually prescribed in the instance wherein they have a bad tooth infection is a root canal treatment. Root canal treatments generally involve one or two sittings wherein a dentist is able to perform the required procedure to take care of the tooth and the infection that lies within it. Root canals are generally more expensive for the procedure as compared to extractions, but bear far less long term costs as compared to extractions. One of the reasons why dentists tend to recommend root canals over other procedures is because it is a safer and healthier choice for individuals who have a severe tooth infection. A root canal treatment is also a relatively painless procedure. When performing the procedure, a dentist is required to give the patient an anesthetic. This means that an individual doesn’t feel a thing when they are undergoing this procedure.

During a root canal procedure, a dentist will generally start by removing the infection from within the tooth. This is done through a method of pulp extraction that removes the inflamed potions or any pus that might be in it. Once this is done, the part of the tooth that has the cavity is filled in. It is then sealed to ensure that the filling stays in place. After this is done, an individual is usually given a certain kind of crown or filling to ensure that everything is kept in place, and to ensure that the tooth can function as normal and without any kind of hindrances. As a result of the cleaning as well as the filling, the pain that one was experiencing before the procedure is likely to reduce. Even though the individual does experience a small amount of pain once the anesthetic wears off, it is something that subsides within a short period of time.

Once a root canal procedure has been completed, patients don’t need to worry about a thing. The procedure is done in a way in which individuals don’t have to come back to the dentist for their root canal. This kind of procedure also ensures that one doesn’t lose their tooth and can retain functioning of it. There is no artificial implant or bridge that is added to any part of your teeth after this procedure, which means that the tooth will feel as it did before, and won’t provide you with any level of discomfort.

Tooth Extractions

Tooth Extractions, on the other hand, are the course of treatment that doctors recommend when there is no way that the tooth can be salvaged and when the infection has spread to an extent where nothing can be done to salvage it. This is generally considered to be the worst-case scenario when an individual has a tooth infection. A tooth extraction is a painful procedure, but anesthetic is provided to patients while conducting it. The area is then cleaned to remove any of the infection that may still persist. Once the procedure has been conducted, the individual is required to revisit the dentist for numerous follow-up check-ups to ensure that the extracted area is healing properly and to ensure that the infection does not persist beyond this.

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