2 Key Benefits Of Saving A Tooth With A Root Canal Instead Of Extracting

An infected tooth can cause so much pain that you would rather have the tooth extracted to end the pain than undergo any additional dental procedures. Root canal therapy in particular might not seem appealing since the procedure often gets a bad rap for being involved and painful, which isn't true. If your tooth can be saved with root canal therapy, there are some key benefits beyond not losing a tooth.

Here are a couple of essential reasons you should consider allowing your general dentistry office to perform a root canal rather than extracting the tooth.

Retain Chewing Pressure and Comfort

A natural tooth has nerves that give you feeling when you chew. You might not be conscious of this feeling but it is an important part of letting you understand how hard you are chewing to avoid damage to your teeth or tongue. Loss of a natural tooth and replacement with a fake tooth will deprive you of this sensation of chewing pressure.

The sensation also makes chewing more comfortable since you can tell where the food is located in your mouth and where it needs to pass next before you swallow. If you can't sense where the food is with your teeth, you will need to employ your tongue more often or simply guess whether the food is able to move onto the next chewing stage.

Keeping your natural tooth will keep your chewing much more natural, comfortable, and convenient. And you won't have to worry about the chewing pain you have now once the root canal therapy completes. That's because the procedure involves the dentist scraping all of the inflamed sensitive material out of the center of the tooth, cleaning the canal, and then sealing the tooth shut with a dental crown.

Keep Jawbone Health

The roots of a natural tooth are always in slight motion, which creates friction with the surrounding jawbone and gum tissue. The friction stimulates the production of blood, bone, and tissue cells that keep the jawbone in peak health. Removal of the natural tooth will take away that valuable service, and your jawbone can quickly start to erode.

An eroded jawbone can limit your dental replacement options since a dental implant, in particular, relies on a root implanted into the jawbone and that bone healing around the root for support. You could undergo a bone graft procedure to fix the problem, but that would add even more time and cost to the dental implant process.

For more information, contact local professionals like Mainwaring John D DDS.