Wilmington, DE Root Canals

To the contrary, saving your natural teeth is almost always the best option. Simply put, nothing is quite as good as the real thing. Keeping your natural teeth helps you chew efficiently and maintain the natural appearance of your smile. If an extraction is recommended, you should ask whether a root canal can save your tooth.

Endodontic treatment (root canal), along with the appropriate restorative work, is a cost-effective way to treat teeth with damaged pulp, and, notably, is significantly less expensive than an extraction coupled with either an implant or a dental bridge. Root canals also enjoy a very high success rate. While the statistics differ depending on which resource is consulted, root canals have over a 90% success rate, and if successful, can last the rest of your life in some cases. Through endodontic treatment at Delaware Dental Studio, dentists like Dr. Lynn Fee, are helping patients from Wilmington keep their natural teeth.

Possibly one of the oldest and most well-known myths, root canal treatment is not usually painful. In fact, it relieves pain. The genesis of this myth likely stems from antiquated root canal practices, including ineffectual anesthetics. According to the American Association of Endodontists, the perception that root canal therapy is painful stems from early treatment methods used to perform the procedure. Today, with modern technology and anesthetics, a root canal is no more uncomfortable than having a filling placed.

At Delaware Dental Studio, we intimately understand that even mentioning a root canal may make patients uneasy. But we want to reassure you that root canal treatments are common procedures that Dr. Lynn Fee routinely performs without the patient experiencing pain. Our team will work to make each appointment as comfortable as possible for you.

Patients searching the Internet may find websites alleging that root canals (endodontic) treatment contributes to illness and disease. There is no valid, scientific evidence linking root canal-treated teeth and disease elsewhere in the body.

When root canal treatment becomes necessary – when there is a severe infection in a tooth requiring endodontic treatment – the treatment is designed to eliminate bacteria from the infected root canal and prevent further reinfection. According to the American Association of Endodontics, “there is no valid, scientific evidence linking root canal-treated teeth and disease elsewhere in the body. There is no causality between root canals and cancer; just because a person has experienced both doesn’t mean a cause-and-effect relationship exists.” And in 2013, a study published in a journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery) found that a patient’s risk of cancer doesn’t change after having a root canal treatment; in fact, patients with multiple endodontic treatments had a 45% reduced risk of cancer.

At Delaware Dental Studio, Dr. Lynn Fee’s root canal treatment is typically completed in one appointment. Factors that may influence the number of appointments include, among other things, the extent of the infection, the difficulty of the root canal, whether a referral to an endodontist (root canal specialist), becomes necessary, and whether restorative work (such as a crown) is necessary to ensure the tooth remains durable and functional.

Many patients see their Wilmington dentist or endodontist when they have a severe toothache. The toothache can be caused by damaged tissues in the tooth. Root canal treatment removes this damaged tissue from the tooth, thereby relieving your pain. While the symptoms indicating you need a root canal often include tooth pain, that is not always the case. Your tooth may already be dead (and thus, no pain), but nonetheless require root canal therapy to remove the infection. We thoroughly examine each of our Wilmington patients during their regular check-ups, and at these appointments Dr. Lynn Fee will assess whether your tooth may need an endodontic treatment. Some of the tests and questions she may ask include temperature testing and percussion testing.