Tips for Avoiding a Root Canal

No one wants a root canal. Even though today’s root canals don’t cause any pain, you still probably don’t want to find yourself in the dentist’s chair for an extended period of time having your tooth treated. 

Fortunately, to a large extent, the power to avoid a root canal is in your hands. 

Good at-home oral hygiene paired with regular teeth cleanings by Dr. Sujay Trivedi or Dr. Michael Westcott can help you slash your root canal risk. If you’re trying to avoid this tooth treatment, don’t hesitate to talk to our Family Dental Care team about what you can do the next time you visit our office in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

For now, though, we’ve pulled together a few helpful tips. 

Brush and floss daily

Dental problems start small. Some bacteria get left on your teeth from something you ate or drank, and form into plaque. Lingering plaque can harden into tartar, which even sophisticated toothbrushes can’t remove. That tartar eats away at your tooth over time. Eventually, you can wind up needing a root canal.

Or, you can prevent this situation from happening by regularly cleaning your teeth. When you brush thoroughly and floss on a daily basis, you clear away plaque before it has the chance to turn into tartar. That goes a long way toward minimizing the decay-causing bacteria in your mouth. 

While you’re at it, brush your tongue to clear away bacteria there, too. 

Visit a dentist twice a year

Fortunately, that tartar on your teeth isn’t permanent. While you can’t remove it at home, a professional can handle it for you. At your biannual teeth cleanings here at Family Dental Care, we use our sophisticated tools and dental expertise to get rid of tartar. We also take other steps to support your oral health. 

That includes identifying the early signs of tooth decay. By visiting us twice a year, you give us the chance to catch problems before they escalate. That means we can address minor issues with simple solutions, like treating a spot of decay and filling a small cavity instead of having to perform a more extensive root canal to address deep decay and infection. 

Seek dental care if you have tooth pain

If you notice discomfort in your mouth, don’t wait on it. That could be — and in most cases, is — a sign that decay has reached the sensitive pulp in the inner part of your tooth. 

Again, if you catch it early, it can possibly be corrected with a filling. But if the decay has the chance to spread to a large enough area, a root canal will be your only option to save the tooth. In other words, if you want to avoid a root canal, act fast when you notice tooth pain. 

To schedule a teeth cleaning or have your tooth pain evaluated and treated by our experts at Family Dental Care in West Palm Beach, Florida, call 561-556-1698 today.