How Long Can I Put Off a Root Canal Treatment?
If I have a tooth that needs a root canal treatment, how long can I put it off before I have to get one? I’ve been swamped with work and I can’t afford to take any time off right now.
Everett
Dear Everett,
While I cannot give you definitive timelines, I can give you some general guidelines. Please bear in mind that I have not examined you or even seen any x-rays, so this is just based on general information. Everyone’s body is different. If you want definitive advice, then it is important you see a dentist and let them examine you.
If your tooth is hurting, even a little bit, then you need to have the root canal done. This mean that you have an active infection. Another red flag is if there is a pimple on your gums. This is known as an abscessed tooth.
Depending on how severe your pain is, I would not necessarily call it a dental emergency, but you do want to get this scheduled or it will turn into one. So, don’t put off having this attended to.
Believe it or not, multiple people still die from tooth infections every year. When left untreated, a tooth infection will continue to spread outside of your mouth. If it reaches your heart or brain, what could have simply dealt with becomes life threatening.
If you do not have an active infection, then you are probably safe to wait. I’ve known people who waited years to get their root canal treatment. However, they did say that when they finally got it done, they noticed that they felt much better in general than they had in years.
I want to make sure that you are aware that by waiting, you risk external resorption. This is a condition where the infection eats away at the root of your tooth. When this happens the tooth is no longer able to be saved. Then, you are stuck with an extraction and the need to replace the tooth.
If you don’t replace the tooth, then the adjacent teeth will shift or tip into the empty space. This will throw off your bite and can lead to painful TMJ disorder.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.
Is It Too Late for Me to Have a Pretty Smile with Dental Implants?
I am a denture patient and have been wearing them for over 20 years. My smile has been unattractive this whole time. Is it too late for me to get a pretty smile with dental implants? I’ve seen pictures of them and they look much better than my smile.
Alana
Dear Alana,
I’m glad you wrote. Technically, it is never too late to get dental implants. Given that you have been in dentures for over twenty years, you will need one additional procedure to make it work, though. When your teeth were removed, your body recognized that and immediately began to resorb the minerals in your jawbone that you no longer needed to hold in your teeth. It does this in order to be efficient with your body’s resources.
However, the side effect for this is it slowly shrinks your jawbone. Your lower denture rests on that jawbone. You’ve likely started noticing that your denture is slipping more. Soon, you won’t be able to keep it in at all. This is known as facial collapse. Hopefully, your dentist warned you about this when you first discussed getting dentures.
The prevention of facial collapse is to place dental implants in your jaw and anchor your dentures to those. Some people call these implant overdentures. The implants signal to your body that you still have teeth to retain so it leaves your jawbone intact. You’ll also find that it increases your quality of life significantly. Even the best fitting dentures will reduce your chewing capacity by 50%. With dental implants, you’ll be able to eat anything you want again.
In order for you to get those dental implants, you’ll first need a bone grafting procedure. This will replace all the bone structure you lost while wearing dentures. This bone is essential in order to retain your dental implants. Then, once that is healed you can move forward with the implants.
One thing to be aware of is that the beauty of your smile will have nothing to do with whether or not you have dentures versus implants. Instead, it depends on the artistic skill of your dentist. You can have a skilled cosmetic dentist create gorgeous dentures. Ask to see their smile gallery of cases they’ve done to get an idea of the type of results they get. Also make sure they have post-doctoral training in dental implants. This is an advanced procedure and you don’t want to end up in a worse situation than you started.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.