root canal work safe?

[sms747]

Just had one done and did not realise there is quite a lot of argument around that they can cause all sorts of health problems, some of it crackpot, some more convincing. Anybody have any experiences? Pretty similar to the amalgam filling horror stories. Had mine done at Mahidol for 4k baht which seems reasonable. Nor sure I would have another one done though, maybe there are alternatives?

[infinity11]

Dentistry is highly questionable IMHO but the damage has already been done.

[cooked]

Broody hell, I paid 12000 in Buriram!

[Sheryl]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

[maxme]

A properly done root canal is a great way to save your natural teeth. It is claimed root canaled teeth can be source of infection, which is true if your dentist fails to clean through the whole canal so the bacteria just get trapped in the tooth roots causing infection when they try to get their way out into the jaw bone. A root canal treatment sure requires dentist's great experience and skills, that's why i will not let just any dentists do my root canal. Remember to always go for root canal specialists.

[Genericnic]

Properly done, root canals are safe and can last a long time. I had one done in the mid 1970s by a 3rd year dental student at a major dental school in Texas. (He was supervised by 3 professors who were also practicing dentists. One was an oral surgeon who subsequently removed 2 wisdom teeth for me.) The student did a great job and the tooth lasted about 35 years before developing a problem that required it be removed. I went back to him - no longer a student - to have the tooth extracted so that I could have an implant put in.

So I would say that if yours was done well, it should give you good service for quite a while.

David

[manarak]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

One of the risks is when the filling spills into the sinus, where it can cause chronic sinusitis.

I have chronic sinusitis caused by an improperly done root canal treatment, now I am one of Amoxiklav's and Otrivin's best customers.

Edited December 15, 2013 by manarak

[h90]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

You aren't seeing the full picture here!

Root canal work when:

a ) the tooth is healthy and need a crone (spelling?? The new top of it)

b ) the tooth is healthy but a bridge is built to cover a lost tooth nearby

With this you shorten the lifetime of tooth.

I had treatments which are justified (the root was dead). In one case a little bit of the tool to widen the canal broke of inside. So I had a little steel inside. When the tooth came out years later it was rusty.

In a other case it was slightly overfilled. I also got told that some underfilled happened.

One of my treated tooth has a very light very small inflamed area on the top of the tip of the root. (previous I used it to test dentists after a complete X-Ray, only a few see it, to the others I point on it and ask if it looks strange there.)

These wrong treatments were done in Austria by a German doctor so no Thai bashing here.....

But if you have a healthy tooth kill it for making a bridge and than have some mistreatment (which you find out after years) is a really bad idea. Root canal work should be really the last option.

[Sheryl]

Of course root canal should not be done on a healthy tooth!!

But nothing to suggest that this was the case here.

[Tolley]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

Therein lies the problem.

No tooth is probably worse than a root canal and an implant is not much better considering most of them use metal.

I disagree on quackery and root canals.

There is quite a strong body of evidence on dangers of root canals and linkages with decreased immunity.

A lot of the alternative cancer clinics use wholistic dentists to get rid of root canals, check cavitations and get rid of mercury fillings as part of their therapies.

[Sceptict11]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

Therein lies the problem.

No tooth is probably worse than a root canal and an implant is not much better considering most of them use metal.

I disagree on quackery and root canals.

There is quite a strong body of evidence on dangers of root canals and linkages with decreased immunity.

A lot of the alternative cancer clinics use wholistic dentists to get rid of root canals, check cavitations and get rid of mercury fillings as part of their therapies.

All of which are Quackery gone mad !

Believe what you wish and please do not respond .

Just go to the "Holistic Dentist" who will cure the problem with herbs !

[Tolley]

Pure quackery (the alleged dangers). A high percentage of the population has had one or more root canals without any adverse effect. I've had at least 4 over the years , no problems at all.

Of course has to be done by a qualified professional.

Not doing a root canal when one is indicated risks loss of the tooth altogether.

Therein lies the problem.

No tooth is probably worse than a root canal and an implant is not much better considering most of them use metal.

I disagree on quackery and root canals.

There is quite a strong body of evidence on dangers of root canals and linkages with decreased immunity.

A lot of the alternative cancer clinics use wholistic dentists to get rid of root canals, check cavitations and get rid of mercury fillings as part of their therapies.

All of which are Quackery gone mad !

Believe what you wish and please do not respond .

Just go to the "Holistic Dentist" who will cure the problem with herbs !

Well I could believe you but then again the papers outlining the potential dangers of root canals were written by respected dental surgeons who have a bit more credibitlity than some anonymous poster on thai visa.

[ericg1953]

First off, a root canal should only be done by an endodontist. This is a root canal specialist whose practice is limited to root canal procedures and has had alot of specific training. They will usually be able to deal with more complex root canal work than your general dentist whose training is limited. As far as dangers exist, that's just absurd. If you want to save your teeth then having root canals is very normal over the course of ones life. My father was a board certified endodontist in the US and never had issues with any patients being ill from a root canal. He also passed recently at 90 with all his original teeth!