In dentistry, old reputations die hard. This practice has been around for hundreds of years, but still the notion of certain procedures passes down intimidation to contemporary clients.
Our parents, or our grandparents, are likely to blame. They may have shuddered when the practice of a root canal was mentioned, or otherwise imparted to us the painful nature of this long-performed procedure. To be fair to them, yesteryear was not a pleasant time to require a root canal. Anaesthetics were not as well developed as today, and the tools were less delicate. But today, the dreaded root canal can be performed with no pain.
At practices around Sydney, such as the renowned No Gaps Dental, a variety of freezing agents are injected in to the afflicted areas of the mouth before work begins. Only once the area is numb does work begin. But practices don’t stop there – options such as sleep dentistry, when the patient is under a general anaesthetic and completely knocked out, are another option.
This is good news for patients everywhere, because root canals are a highly important procedure. They serve as a replacement for any tooth that has become infected, and by drilling down through the tooth, they remove any infected ‘pulp’, and the root of the tooth, replacing it with a strong synthetic. By so doing, they are able to preserve a tooth that would otherwise be slated for extraction.
And today, there’s no reason to suffer for it.