I have a tooth that needs a root canal treatment and I just do not have much time. My family has a lot of difficulties right now. I don’t want to be stupid, but if it can wait it would be very helpful.
Donna
Dear Donna,
First, let me say how sorry I am your family is going through difficulties. Second, that it is wise that you are checking rather than just avoiding the issue altogether. While I can’t give you a definitive answer for your specific situation, I can give some general “guidelines”.
If there is any active infection, you need to have the root canal treatment immediately, it would be considered a dental emergency. So, what does an active infection look like?
The two main indicators are pain or an abscess. If you have any pain, even a little bit, or had pain that just recently stopped, you need to get to the dentist right away. The same goes for an abscess, which looks like a pimple on your gums. Both of these situations are serious and can escalate quickly.
If you have no pain and have not for a while, it may be okay to put it off for a little while. Though it may not be active in the sense that it is growing, there are some things to be aware of. Infected teeth do affect your overall health systemically. Many patients say after they took care of an infected tooth, their whole body felt better and they weren’t as tired.
Additionally, there is a risk of external resorption, where the root of the tooth is slowly being reduced. At some point, there will be no way to save your tooth and it will have to be extracted then replaced.
This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Gecovich.