Of all the dental treatments to be humorously vilified in cartoons and movies, the root canal probably elicits the most dread in the greatest number of people. While this reputation is not deserved, many people avoid seeing the dentist for fear of getting one. This is truly unfortunate because modern root canals are completely painless due to local anesthetics and can spare patients from unremitting miserable pain and save teeth from extraction. Here’s a guide to why root canals can be necessary and how a patient can benefit from getting one.
(more…)