Difficulty = Cost? Why is everyone afraid of root canal treatment?

Review expert: Lu Bin, deputy chief physician and associate professor of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Stomatological Hospital, Air Force Medical University

As the saying goes, "Toothache is not a disease, but it can kill you." This sentence very intuitively shows that people ignore dental diseases in life and the pain of dental diseases. In recent years, with the improvement of people's health awareness and the advancement of medical level, people pay more and more attention to dental health. "Root canal treatment" has also entered the public eye, and it is also controversial. Many people think that root canal treatment is an expensive overtreatment. So, how does root canal treatment, which is relatively expensive, treat the symptoms?

Source: pixabay

When is root canal treatment needed? In the public's perception, teeth are hard, solid structures. In fact, teeth have hollow structures such as pulp chambers and root canals. "Hard outside and soft inside" is the characteristic of teeth. The soft part is the most sensitive and soft part - the pulp, which is protected by the hard structure on the outside. The blood vessels and lymphatic vessels in the pulp provide nutrition and defense, while the dental nerves are the alarms for tooth pain. Therefore, when the pulp becomes diseased, people will suffer from toothache. At this time, in order to alleviate the symptoms and curb the infection, root canal treatment is required.

The structure of teeth Source: Sohu

In fact, root canal therapy is a combination of "subtraction" and "addition" performed by dentists on teeth using special instruments: first, "subtraction" is performed to completely remove the infected pulp, infected dentin and toxic decomposition products inside the tooth, and proper disinfection is performed; secondly, addition is performed to fill the root canal with filling agents, gutta-percha and other substances, then seal the pulp cavity, and finally put on a protective crown.

In specific treatment, not all dental problems require root canal treatment. Generally speaking, root canal treatment is suitable for teeth diagnosed with pulpitis or periapical periodontitis. In order to cure these teeth, the teeth must have sufficient periodontal tissue and bone support to retain the entire tooth or tooth root, remove the pulp tissue and clear the root canal system infection.

Source: Sohu

Specifically, pulpitis, pulp necrosis, and apical periodontitis all require root canal treatment. Among them, treatment for pulpitis is more common. Pulpitis can be divided into acute pulpitis (including acute attacks of chronic pulpitis) and chronic pulpitis. The specific symptoms of acute pulpitis are obvious throbbing pain in the teeth, which requires the use of cold water for pain relief; chronic pulpitis is characterized by persistent pain when eating cold or hot food, and usually no obvious pain in the teeth. In addition, root canal treatment is also performed when trauma, tooth restoration, periodontal surgery or other treatments are needed.

How to carry out root canal treatment? As we all know, root canal treatment is a relatively complex endodontic treatment method, which requires high professional skills of doctors, requires a variety of treatment instruments, and the treatment steps are also relatively complicated. At present, there are two ways for doctors to carry out root canal treatment, namely traditional root canal treatment and micro root canal treatment. Traditional root canal treatment is carried out by doctors after integrating information from multiple X-rays, and the root canal system of the affected tooth is understood through X-rays or apex locators for treatment. This method is used in some "high-difficulty cases", such as curved, narrow, calcified, broken instruments, lateral penetration or other special situations. Due to the greatly increased difficulty of treatment, more special equipment and materials will be used, and more time will be spent. In comparison, the currently highly discussed microscope root canal treatment technology has brought very practical help to dentists. On the one hand, through the oral microscope, doctors have a better understanding of the specific information of the root canal and the lesion, and can see the root canal wall, the position of the root canal orifice and the morphology of the root canal, and the situation of the lateral root canal, providing more information for subsequent treatment and operation. On the other hand, with the help of a microscope, the difficulty of performing highly difficult root canal treatments has been reduced. Root canal preparation, unblocking calcified root canals, ultrasonic root canal treatment, removal of foreign bodies in the root canals (such as broken needles, etc.), root canal filling, apical resection, etc. can all be performed, which also greatly reduces the patient's pain.

Source: unsplash

Care for dental health. From now on, people generally ignore dental health. When they have a toothache, they think that they can just endure it, but the pain gets worse and worse, and they even suffer more physical pain and spend more money on treatment. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to oral problems, pay attention to dental health, and care for and love your teeth. Many times, the health red light of teeth is not sudden, and many times some small problems are signs. For example, bleeding gums are an early warning sign of unhealthy gums, or gingivitis caused by plaque, or periodontal disease. If you pay attention to it at this time, taking gingivitis as an example, you only need some simple treatment to return to normal. In addition, when you chew, you find that your teeth are difficult to bite, your teeth are loose, or you have bad breath... These may be signs of dental disease.

Source: pixabay

At this time, the most important thing we should do is to go to a professional medical institution for an oral examination as soon as possible. At the same time, regular oral examinations should also be included in the health management plan. Many early oral diseases are discovered during such examinations. Specifically, normal adults generally need to have an oral examination at least once a year. Children in the developmental period should adjust the number of visits to the dentist according to specific circumstances. It is generally recommended to have an oral examination at least twice a year, and some children even need an oral examination every 3 months.

Source: pixabay

Dental health is an important indicator of our physical health. We should pay more attention to and protect our teeth, develop good dental examination habits, and treat dental diseases in time. Don’t take toothache lightly anymore.