Dentist Dispels Myths in Honor of Root Canal Awareness Week

The American Association of Endodontics or AAE’s Root Canal Awareness Week was created to help patients understand what the procedure is and eliminate the fears surrounding it.

Dentist Dr. Derek Peek said the most common myths surrounding root canals are regarding pain, infection, and the tooth itself.

“A lot of people have a lot of fears with dentistry. Patients shouldn’t fear coming to the dentist and shouldn’t fear coming to the endodontist because it is painless, it should be painless, and you should keep your natural teeth, and you should come see us and let us help you out.”

Dr. Peek said the procedure should be painless. He said most patients come into the office in pain and with local anesthesia they can get numb quicker and stay that way longer. In terms of infection, the AAE performed researching proving the procedure is safe and does not cause infection in other areas of the body. He said some patients believe they shouldn’t have the procedure and instead get the tooth pulled, but Dr. Peek stresses nothing can replace the natural tooth.

Dr. Peek said with new improvements in dentistry, endodontist can utilize new technologies to help patients understand how and why a root canal must be performed.

He said usually a dentist will assign a root canal, but sometimes patients can notice the symptoms on their own.

“Sometimes emergencies happen, sometimes your face can swell, sometimes you put cold water in your mouth and your tooth aches and throbs and it lingers, or it may just wake you up at night and your tooth hurts so any type of spontaneous pain, Dr. Peek said. “Always call your general dentist make sure they exam you first.”

The Eastern Iowa Endodontics

has more information on topics surrounding root canals.