Root canal treatment (RCT) is one of the most critical treatment procedures in dentistry that creates lots of questions among the patients when they go through or are recommended to get this treatment. However, this dental procedure is not only critical but also painful, time and expensive.
Similarly, many questions arise when you listen to RCT and you might be also curious to get the right answers about the questions related to RCT. Hence, to clear the myths and get the right answer about RCT we have brought here the top ten frequently asked questions about root canal treatment.
Top 10 FAQs Regarding Root Canal Treatment:
Q. 1. What is Root Canal Treatment?
Ans. Root Canal Treatment (RCT) which is also called endodontic therapy in dentistry is a kind of dental procedure used to treat the infections in tooth pulp, from the innermost layer of your teeth. RCT is considered to save your teeth that are badly damaged due to cavity or tooth decay and nerve infection.
Also Read: How to Protect Teeth from Cavity Growing and Getting Worse
The RCT helps to save such critical teeth by cleaning all the infectious pulp and filling it with suitable material to revive its condition to make it usable for normal chewing. The RCT can be performed for any teeth including frontlines and molars depending on its health condition. The entire procedure is time-consuming and complicated needs multiple visits at the dentist to complete the process.
Q. 2. How Root Canal Treatment is Done?
Ans. The RCT is done with the long treatment in which various stage of dental procedure is performed step by step in many days. The dentist first diagnoses the condition of the tooth and while performing the RCT can use anesthesia to minimise the feeling of pain. Afterwards, the pulp is removed and an infected portion is cleaned and sterilized using solutions like sodium hypochlorite or chlorhexidine to eliminate any remaining bacteria.
In the next visits, the affected area is again cleaned and filled with biocompatible material, like gutta-percha to prevent the teeth from cavities or infection. Lastly, the permanent filling may be placed to seal the access opening or the dentist might use the crown to protect teeth and provide extra protection from normal wear and tear. Your RCT is completed with new teeth restored to the original look.
Q. 3. Why Root Canal Treatment is Required or Important?
Ans. RCT is performed to save your teeth that are badly damaged because of prolonged cavities and tooth decay. When RCT is performed the infected pulp or soft tissue inside care is removed to prevent the gums from swelling and protect other nearby teeth from further infections. People having teeth affected with deep decay, trauma, or cracked and become hollo due to cavity require RCT.
Also Read: How to Get Rid of Tooth Decay: Natural Ways Remove Cavities
Other important reasons behind performing the RCT treatment are preventing teeth structure from speeding the infection, providing relief from pain and sensitivity and maintaining the oral health of the people. This dental procedure helps to preserve your natural teeth while restoring their functionality and aesthetics. In some cases, RCT is cost-effective compared to other dental procedures.
Also Read: What are the Causes of Sensitive Teeth? Reasons for Sensitivity
Q. 4. How Painful is Root Canal Treatment?
Ans. When your teeth are infected with bacteria and infection, you already realise lots of pain and discomfort. Curing this dental problem is very important to prevent infection from further spread and save your teeth. However, going through the RCT treatment is also a painful procedure. However, the dentist gives anaesthesia to minimize the impact of pain and discomfort during the RCT.
During the procedure when the dentist removes and cleans the pulp and infection, you might feel the pain, but anaesthesia will not be able to realise the least pain. However, after this pulp and infection removal when you go back to your home, you might feel the pain, but the dentist will give you medicines to relieve from pain and cure the injury that happened during the surgical process. After the final restoration of teeth, your pain will be normalised and you will not feel any pain and discomfort because of RCT.
Q. 5. Why Root Canal Treatment is Painful?
Ans. The main cause of infection before RCT is the infection or inflammation in the pulp causing severe pain, sensitivity, and swelling. While during the RCT a necessary surgical procedure is performed that can cause the pain. Dentists use certain tools and apparatus to remove the infection and pulp that cause some pain and discomfort during the RCT procedure. However, the pain impact can be minimized with anaesthesia.
On the other hand, after RCT the pain could be because of multiple reasons like any infection remaining under the teeth. If your tooth nerve got damaged or fractured could be other reasons behind the pain post-RCT. The hard biting or improper alignment and swelling of teeth putting extraordinary pressure on teeth also cause pain and discomfort after RCT.
Q. 6. How Long Does Root Canal Treatment Take?
Ans. Performing the root canal treatment is a critical as well as time time-consuming process. However, depending upon the type of tooth, tooth condition, severity of the infection, availability of the patient and capability of the dentist it can take from a few days to many days to complete the entire treatment procedure. Unexpected complications or further restoration of teeth like crowns can take this procedure few more days.
Unusually, one day is required to diagnose your teeth condition, in the next visits you will get your infected teeth cleaned and sterilized and further visits for the filling and in the final round you can get the crown and final touch to your restored teeth with the RCT. If there is no infection or pain after RCT you don’t need to visit anymore, while in case of complications, you have to visit the best dentist in Greater Noida.
Q. 7. How Long Does Root Canal Treatment Last?
Ans. The longevity of teeth cured through root canal treatment depends on individual factors like the type of material used in the RCT procedure, the presence of complications and care or precautions taken by the patient. Usually, the teeth can last up to 10 to 15 years or even a lifetime if proper care is taken.
The factors that affect the lifespan of RCT are proper aftercare like regular brushing, flossing and dental check-ups. The restoration work like placing the crown and filling are other factors that affect the life of RCT. Moreover, the location of the teeth, age and health condition of the patient or severities of the infection are other important factors ensure the longevity of the RCT-cured teeth.
Q. 8. What are the Side Effects of Root Canal Treatment?
Ans. On one side, root canal treatment is useful to get a highly effective and safe dental procedure to save your teeth. But other side it also has some side effects that make this dental procedure less popular among people. Temporary discomfort, swelling, minor infection and sensitivity are the common side effects of the RCT that anyone can realise after going through this treatment procedure.
Also Read: Types of Dental Procedures Used for Treatment of Teeth Diseases
Q. 9. What is the Cost of Root Canal Treatment?
Ans. The cost of root canal treatment depends on various factors like the location of the dental clinic, dentist consultation fees and treatment charges and affordability to pay the cost by the patients. However, in India, the general cost of root canal treatment can range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 per tooth. In rural areas, the cost of RCT is cheaper than in urban areas of metropolitan cities.
The costs of treatment vary not only due to location but the type of RCT performed. A general root canal can cost between Rs 2000 to Rs 5000 for every single tooth. While laser-assisted root canal treatment can cost you from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. Similarly, treating the back teeth or molar teeth is more complicated and can cost you more compared to the front teeth. If you get crowns and bridges on such teeth, the overall cost of RCT can increase more compared to normal treatment procedures.
Q. 10. Why Root Canal Treatment is Expensive?
Ans. Yes, it’s true, the cost of root canal treatment is higher than various other dental procedures. The reason behind the high cost of treatment is because of the level of complexities, expertise and technology involved while performing this dental procedure. In fact, to perform the RCT an extra level of precision is required with extraordinary care and precautions to ensure the safety.
Apart from multiple visits, the type of material used in RCT, the technology used for diagnosis and medical examination and treatment procedure, the retreatment is the other prime factor that can increase the cost of RCT making it one of the most expensive dental procedure in the dentistry. To avoid such high cost treatment you can visit at your nearest dentist in Greater Noida for low-cost RCT with best results.
