What Happens If a Tooth Root Infection Goes Untreated?

Would you concern yourself if you had a minor impact on your tooth that didn’t cause much discomfort? You would probably endure little pain for a couple of days without getting the tooth evaluated by your dentist. However, how would you react if you receive information the minor trouble in your tooth can assume life-threatening proportions because you might have an untreated tooth root infection?

Tooth root infections are not viral and develop from untreated tooth decay, an injury to your tooth resulting in a crack or a chipped tooth. It indicates the minor impact you ignored earlier has developed into a severe condition that needs treatment as soon as possible from endodontics in Los Gatos, CA, to save your tooth and even your life.

How Serious Is Root Canal Infection?

Root canal infections are pretty concerning because besides causing pain and discomfort, the infection makes you a victim to undergo the infamous root canal treatment and get a dental crown to restore your tooth at considerable expenditure. However, if you leave the condition untreated, the only alternative available is to have the tooth expected and look for replacements to close the gap between your teeth.

When you disregard the symptoms of tooth root infections causing pain or sensitivity when chewing and biting, fever, swelling, difficulties when breathing or swallowing, and a foul taste in your mouth, the effects of the tooth root infection spread into your bloodstream, causing various health conditions.

When you eventually visit your dentist complaining about the excruciating toothache besides other symptoms, the dentist, after examining your tooth, recommends root canal therapy as the best course of action to preserve your tooth and eliminate the infection from your mouth. You will undoubtedly express fear listening to the recommendation of your dentist. However, if you want to get rid of the tooth root infection and the problems associated with leaving it untreated, you might accept the dentist’s suggestion to begin preparing yourself for the procedure.

How Long Can You Ignore a Root Canal?

Dental infections, whether minor or significant, are better not ignored because they constantly expand and do not heal themselves. For example, if you have an infection in a root canal, you experience severe pain in a specific tooth, and all the symptoms described earlier giving you sleepless nights and cause immense stress.

Pain from an infected root canal is either constant or intermittent, giving you the feeling that the discomfort has disappeared and doesn’t need further attention. Unfortunately, the pain returns with more severity to cause more distress to make you wonder what you must do to overcome the situation. If you decide to ignore the toothache using over-the-counter painkillers or other remedies, the chances of your tooth dying remain high, making an extraction the only treatment available. Therefore you should visit the Los Gatos endodontist to receive the recommended root canal therapy without delay because besides preserving your tooth, the treatment also prevents various other complications that you aren’t aware of.

How Much Time Is Required for Root Canal Therapy?

Endodontists complete root canal therapy in approximately 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the complexity of the procedure. Root canals on front teeth require the least time, while the molars with multiple canals require 90 minutes or more and multiple visits in some cases.

Endodontic therapy is complicated and requires the specialist to drill your tooth to expose the infected dental pulp, extract it, clean the root canals, apply antibiotics, and finally fill the tooth with a temporary filling.

Before starting the procedure, the endodontist provides you with adequate anesthesia to ensure you don’t experience any discomfort during the process. You will likely experience pain after the anesthesia begins wearing off and cause challenges when eating or speaking. However, the specialists prescribe painkillers to help you overcome the discomfort, which lasts for approximately a week. Endodontists also provide adequate after-care infections to ensure your recovery proceeds smoothly. However, you can get back your daily activities about three to four days after your process.

If you decide to leave a tooth root infection untreated, the consequences of your actions can make you experience severe pain, and the infection can spread to another part of your body needing treatments from different medical professionals instead of a dental expert. Therefore if you have an infection within your tooth, you must have the condition treated by visiting Mountain Bay Dental Implants and Orthodontics and getting rid of the disease from your mouth.