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What do you think is the worst dental treatment of all? What would you do if you had to choose between a root canal and a dental extraction? Would you be at all surprised that most people would choose root canal therapy? Unfortunately, if the center of your tooth is infected, you may need to make that choice—and many, many people choose to let the tooth be removed.

Usually this is because root canal therapy has a bad reputation for being extremely painful. However, most patients who have gone through the treatment say it is mostly painless.

In essence, pain shouldn’t scare you away from root canal therapy: but other factors should be considered. For example, after root canal therapy your tooth will function as normal. Conversely, if a tooth is extracted, you’ll need a restorative treatment like a crown or a bridge to complete your smile and to make simple acts like chewing and speaking comfortable. Sadly, these restorations are for more expensive than root canal therapy, and because they may eventually need to be replaced, you could pay for them more than once.

Alternatively, you could simply choose to have the tooth removed and not replaced. But this is not the best approach. Aside from leaving a cosmetically unappealing gap in your smile, having a missing tooth can make your teeth shift. Having gaps in your smile will also make your smile more difficult to clean and leave you more susceptible to gum disease.

Overall, root canal therapy is a better option for your oral health. If you are interested in learning more about root canal therapy or a tooth extraction, please feel free to contact us today. We are eager to hear from you.