When Root Canal Treatment is recommended by the dentist then you may be scared of pain and expenses involved in tooth and may be feel like asking the dentist alternatives for this. For pulp infection three lines of treatment are available. These are Root Canal Treatment or Apicocectomy or Extraction of tooth.
Root canal treatment and as an alternative to endodontic therapy:
Apicoectomy with filling from the root end (endodontic surgery). Apicoectomy is the removal of infection along with the infected root tip and filling the tooth from the root tip side. It is done after the root canal treatment fails due to some reason esp. like persistence of infection.
Extraction of Tooth
The approach adopted for a particular tooth depends upon various presenting features. Sometimes only one line of treatment is possible which narrows the choice. First two approaches are to save a tooth. Extraction should be kept as the last resort when nothing can be done to save the tooth.
The most common alternative to root canal is extraction of the tooth to avoid any complications arising from the infection of the pulp. If a patient does not wants to or can’t get root canal treatment done its better to get it removed. The cost or simplicity of extraction might seem to be a good alternative to the expensive root canal treatment to save the natural tooth. But this solution might not be the simplest or the least expensive treatment in the long run. Losing a tooth can cause the neighboring teeth to tilt or shift in the space created by the loss of the infected tooth to a great degree which may cause serious dental problems themselves. This can hamper dental health to a great extent. Problems of chewing and the ones associated with the jaw joint are common with even the loss of single tooth so the space created so the space created should not be left empty. Keeping in mind all the problems caused by a missing tooth a dentist might advice you to get the missing tooth replaced by an artificial one as soon as possible after the extraction of the tooth. Replacing a tooth with a fixed bridge or implant or even a removable partial denture might actually prove to be more expensive than the root canal treatment the patient refused earlier thinking it to be more expensive than extraction. So the decision for getting extraction done over the choice of root canal treatment should be taken only after understanding the pros and cons associated with both the procedures in your particular case. The decision for the treatment chosen should not be taken without thinking. If pain is present the dentist should relieve pain and then decide further treatment modality.
Root canal treatment should be done at the earliest in the cases needing them. Sooner the treatment done the better it is. Delaying only adds to the problem and complications list. Sometimes however the root canal treatment needs to be delayed due to time problems b/w the dentist and the patient, the need for other dental work and even for the financial causes. Some problems can be dealt with the co-operation b/w the dentist and the patient. The dentist can perform initial aspects of the root canal treatment which would provide relief to the patient from the disturbing symptoms like pain and the rest of the treatment can be scheduled for a latter time. But remember completion of the root canal procedure is very important for the overall success of the treatment. You have the priority to decide when to get your root canal treatment done but consult the dentist well. Any tooth needing a root canal is never predictable. It can remain asymptomatic for an unknown period of time or on the other hand could proceed to giving rise to an abscess which causes a lot of pain and swelling. So it’s better to consult the dentist soon to resolve the problem as soon as possible and save the natural tooth and avoid any dangerous complications arising from the necrotic pulp.