Root Canals Are Bad?

Off Topic
21

[quote]Professor X wrote:
on edge wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I
Bottom line, saving a tooth is in more cases than not the better option. There are no alternatives that are better than natural teeth and that includes implants (although implants would be the better alternative to nothing if there is enough bone in the area).

What do you think of a partial denture v implant or rc?

While the data presented in the OP is interesting, some seem to be missing the last few lines. The best treatment is PREVENTION. That alone is why those who jump to conclusions based on any info found as if “root canals equal bad” is missing the larger picture. Yes, we might be able to do away with root canals…THE MOMENT PEOPLE ACTUALLY START TAKING CARE OF THEIR TEETH INSTEAD OF TREATING THEM LIKE AN AFTER THOUGHT.

Do you realize how few people reach over the age of 30 with no cavities? People like that don’t get to choose the option of “no root canals” unless they would like no teeth.

Your intra-oral environment has ALWAYS had a huge impact on overall health…and most human beings don’t even seem to think about their teeth in detail until something starts hurting them…which is too late to be concerned about PREVENTION.

I hate doing root canals. They have a high failure rate no matter how well they are done BECAUSE BACTERIA ARE MICROSCOPIC. However, keeping a tooth is more times than not the better option for overall health instead of pulling every tooth that decays to the point of no return.

If we head down that route, most people will be in full dentures by the age of 35 like they used to be decades ago.

Pulling teeth has a domino effect. Teeth move over time so if a tooth is pulled, the teeth above and behind it will likely drift which can lead to even larger problems further down the road.

As far as your question, things are not that simple. You don’t simply have the choice to get an implant in all cases. There has to be enough bone in the area to support one and enough space between teeth. There has to be a lack of periodontal disease…which is likely to be present in someone who needs a tooth pulled to begin with.

The best choice is STILL your own natural teeth,root canal’ed or not.

One other issue is PRICE. Yes, we can sit around and talk about how great implants are all we want to, but how many of you have the $1,000 and more just for the implant (that doesn’t count the cost of the crown on top or the surgery)…and are ready for insurance to say “we don’t cover that”???

It seems that often, the people who are least active as far as prevention seem to be the most interested in alternative medicine despite the fact that in reality, this is financially not really an option for them.[/quote]

This made me get up and brush my teeth. Professor X 1 - plaque 0

22

[quote]Professor X wrote:
on edge wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I
Bottom line, saving a tooth is in more cases than not the better option. There are no alternatives that are better than natural teeth and that includes implants (although implants would be the better alternative to nothing if there is enough bone in the area).

What do you think of a partial denture v implant or rc?

While the data presented in the OP is interesting, some seem to be missing the last few lines. The best treatment is PREVENTION. That alone is why those who jump to conclusions based on any info found as if “root canals equal bad” is missing the larger picture. Yes, we might be able to do away with root canals…THE MOMENT PEOPLE ACTUALLY START TAKING CARE OF THEIR TEETH INSTEAD OF TREATING THEM LIKE AN AFTER THOUGHT.

Do you realize how few people reach over the age of 30 with no cavities? People like that don’t get to choose the option of “no root canals” unless they would like no teeth.

Your intra-oral environment has ALWAYS had a huge impact on overall health…and most human beings don’t even seem to think about their teeth in detail until something starts hurting them…which is too late to be concerned about PREVENTION.

I hate doing root canals. They have a high failure rate no matter how well they are done BECAUSE BACTERIA ARE MICROSCOPIC. However, keeping a tooth is more times than not the better option for overall health instead of pulling every tooth that decays to the point of no return.

If we head down that route, most people will be in full dentures by the age of 35 like they used to be decades ago.

Pulling teeth has a domino effect. Teeth move over time so if a tooth is pulled, the teeth above and behind it will likely drift which can lead to even larger problems further down the road.

As far as your question, things are not that simple. You don’t simply have the choice to get an implant in all cases. There has to be enough bone in the area to support one and enough space between teeth. There has to be a lack of periodontal disease…which is likely to be present in someone who needs a tooth pulled to begin with.

The best choice is STILL your own natural teeth,root canal’ed or not.

One other issue is PRICE. Yes, we can sit around and talk about how great implants are all we want to, but how many of you have the $1,000 and more just for the implant (that doesn’t count the cost of the crown on top or the surgery)…and are ready for insurance to say “we don’t cover that”???

It seems that often, the people who are least active as far as prevention seem to be the most interested in alternative medicine despite the fact that in reality, this is financially not really an option for them.[/quote]

You will/can flame me for this, but I took/take meticulous care of my teeth. I’ve always had a toothbrush in my work desk and in my school bag. I did all the textbook things that you are supposed to do. That is part of the reason that I’m mystified by all of this. My boss on the other hand claims she brushes her teeth once a day and has never had a cavity.

Is there a possible link with genetics and cavities or ph balance etc. Just curious. I just hope that I don’t now have a bacteria storage bin in my mouth now. The tooh also feels worse than it did before the root canal.

23

[quote]younggully wrote:

You will/can flame me for this, but I took/take meticulous care of my teeth.[/quote]

You know that line about how all prisoners claim they are innocent? For some strange reason, that is what pops into my mind every single time someone tells me this. I am not knocking you personally because it means you simply need to increase your own knowledge of what is going on inside your mouth, but the truth is, unless you were truly trained by a professional, you are NOT taking care of your teeth anywhere near as well as you think.

[quote]

I’ve always had a toothbrush in my work desk and in my school bag. I did all the textbook things that you are supposed to do. That is part of the reason that I’m mystified by all of this. My boss on the other hand claims she brushes her teeth once a day and has never had a cavity. [/quote]

Your goal is not to match someone else’s hygiene. Oral flora is largely genetic, starting often by your mother passing the bacteria in her own mouth to her children. That is the first piece of the puzzle that leads to cleaning frequency. The other factors of decay include:
*exposure to carbohydrates
*and oral hygiene

If you are sipping on a soda all day long, every sip counts as one exposure to simple carbohydrates which will help feed growing bacterial numbers.

How long ago was the root canal performed? If you are still fighting an infection, then it makes sense for it to still be hurting even if you felt little before the procedure. I like to describe as " a scab on a wound" when patients seem confused about why a tooth that wasn’t hurting before now hurts after treatment. I have seen teeth decayed so badly that I am amazed that the person isn’t writhing in pain…but as soon as you clean out the decay, NOW the tooth is sensitive…whereas leaving it like it was would have led to a root canal.

Bottom line, as much as it may hurt to hear it, if you had a tooth that needed a root canal, then there is NO WAY you were taking as good care of your teeth as you thought. If you were having regular check ups every six months, you would probably have avoided it completely (even though there are rare cases where cavities do not show up on x-rays and no one even knows it is infected until the patient notes pain in the area).

That takes us back to my last post. Prevention is the only cure for anything we are discussing…something you can’t partake of if the last time you saw a dentist was 1991. Unless YOU ALL went to dental school or had a dentist show you how to clean your teeth…AND if you understand dental morphology on the level of a professional…then MAYBE you can make the claim of how exceptional your hygiene is.

Otherwise…

24

Wow, a lot of reading here.

I’m just going to chime in that I’ve had two root canals. The first one wasn’t too bad, but on the second one, when they put the ember to your tooth (or whatever it is,) the hottest part fell off and landed on my tongue for a good 5-6 seconds before they could retrieve it. That hurt like hell, much worse than the rest of the procedure.

Of course, I’ve never had many problems when it comes to mouth pain.

25

[quote]Professor X wrote:
younggully wrote:

You will/can flame me for this, but I took/take meticulous care of my teeth.

You know that line about how all prisoners claim they are innocent? For some strange reason, that is what pops into my mind every single time someone tells me this. I am not knocking you personally because it means you simply need to increase your own knowledge of what is going on inside your mouth, but the truth is, unless you were truly trained by a professional, you are NOT taking care of your teeth anywhere near as well as you think.

I’ve always had a toothbrush in my work desk and in my school bag. I did all the textbook things that you are supposed to do. That is part of the reason that I’m mystified by all of this. My boss on the other hand claims she brushes her teeth once a day and has never had a cavity.

Your goal is not to match someone else’s hygiene. Oral flora is largely genetic, starting often by your mother passing the bacteria in her own mouth to her children. That is the first piece of the puzzle that leads to cleaning frequency. The other factors of decay include:
*exposure to carbohydrates
*and oral hygiene

If you are sipping on a soda all day long, every sip counts as one exposure to simple carbohydrates which will help feed growing bacterial numbers.

Is there a possible link with genetics and cavities or ph balance etc. Just curious. I just hope that I don’t now have a bacteria storage bin in my mouth now. The tooh also feels worse than it did before the root canal.

How long ago was the root canal performed? If you are still fighting an infection, then it makes sense for it to still be hurting even if you felt little before the procedure. I like to describe as " a scab on a wound" when patients seem confused about why a tooth that wasn’t hurting before now hurts after treatment. I have seen teeth decayed so badly that I am amazed that the person isn’t writhing in pain…but as soon as you clean out the decay, NOW the tooth is sensitive…whereas leaving it like it was would have led to a root canal.

Bottom line, as much as it may hurt to hear it, if you had a tooth that needed a root canal, then there is NO WAY you were taking as good care of your teeth as you thought. If you were having regular check ups every six months, you would probably have avoided it completely (even though there are rare cases where cavities do not show up on x-rays and no one even knows it is infected until the patient notes pain in the area).

That takes us back to my last post. Prevention is the only cure for anything we are discussing…something you can’t partake of if the last time you saw a dentist was 1991. Unless YOU ALL went to dental school or had a dentist show you how to clean your teeth…AND if you understand dental morphology on the level of a professional…then MAYBE you can make the claim of how exceptional your hygiene is.

Otherwise…
[/quote]

Thanks for your post. And after reading it I realize you’re right, I wasn’t getting checked every six mos. I flossed and brushed twice daily and thought that was enough. The root canal was done about a week ago and hurts ONLY at night. Why would that happen. I asked the dentist what to do and he said to sleep with my tongue between my teeth (seriously). I guess I sound like the clients that come into the gym and say " I eat right" but they have a gut hanging over their belt.

26

I’m 37, have 0 cavities and have had no work done. I never floss, brush 2 times a day…most days. I go to a different dentist every 5 YEARS and each time they say how good I am doing at taking care of my teeth and can tell i floss… I’m thinking genetics play a role. The gum test probe thing had one 2, they say that is good. and no, it’s not becasue i’m gap toothed so food has nowhere to stick :slight_smile:

So i’m either a freak, or good teeth genes i guess.

In all seriousness, what is the best amount to brush? All the people i know that are close to me that brush after every meal have sensitive teeth and they are wearing away even thought they brush as directed instead of like a saw in and out.

27

The problem isn’t brushing too much, it’s that people don’t use the right toothbrush as far as using soft/med/hard bristles.

I believe hard is not recommended and soft is the way to go, I’m sure PX can chime in specifically

28

Never use a hard or even medium toothbrush.

Yes, I wrote “never”.

29

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Never use a hard or even medium toothbrush.

Yes, I wrote “never”.[/quote]

for most of my life till probably 1 yr ago I always used a hard/medium, thinking that it would help get the plaque/debris off better.

I use a soft brush now and try to run it under hot water to make it a little softer

30

Where can I get good information about proper dental care?

Ive had so many problems with my teeth and I never know what to do. For instance I had no clue about using a soft tooth brush.

31

[quote]Frank.S wrote:
Where can I get good information about proper dental care?

Ive had so many problems with my teeth and I never know what to do. For instance I had no clue about using a soft tooth brush. [/quote]

Talking to your dentist would be the 1st step

32

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Never use a hard or even medium toothbrush.

Yes, I wrote “never”.[/quote]

My mom’s first profession was a dental assistant and she got mad at me in the past when I once bought a hard bristled tooth brush. Ever since then I’ve always bought SOFT.

X is there a clinical reason that they make medium/hard tooth brushes? Do manufactures think people have preference when it comes to that, even tho dentists tell patients to use soft tooth brushes?

33

[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Never use a hard or even medium toothbrush.

Yes, I wrote “never”.

My mom’s first profession was a dental assistant and she got mad at me in the past when I once bought a hard bristled tooth brush. Ever since then I’ve always bought SOFT.

X is there a clinical reason that they make medium/hard tooth brushes? Do manufactures think people have preference when it comes to that, even tho dentists tell patients to use soft tooth brushes?[/quote]

I can only assume that toothbrush companies are simply trying to make more money by creating products that people will actually buy…and many people with bad teeth seem to think the harder the bristles, the cleaner the teeth.

I don’t know of any health care professionals associated with dentistry that would recommend a hard toothbrush because of the potential damage caused to enamel in the long run.

I have literally seen some patients who are near obsessive about their dental care, but who have worn crevices into the side of many of their teeth near the gum line which leads to tooth sensitivity and an increase in cavities in those areas.

34

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Never use a hard or even medium toothbrush.

Yes, I wrote “never”.[/quote]

FML