Dental Advice faq from Seattle Area Dentist

Fortunately, not all teeth which abscess are painful. In fact, it is very very common for many teeth to become painful for only a short time as the nerve is dying. Once the nerve is dead, the immediate pain disappears! Unfortunately, such teeth become ticking time bombs, in a sense, because they only feel comfortable until the infection gets large enough. As a dentist, I perform just as many root canal procedures on teeth which are not hurting, as I do on patients who are in pain. If a tooth which has died does not have a root canal treatment, it will certainly become infected at some point and become a larger problem. Also, the tooth becomes brittle and can break down more easily without treatment. Of course, there are other reasons for a tooth to have pain, and it is important to assess these as well. Pain is only one factor in assessing a tooth's need for a root canal. As you may know, the dentist also considers other factors including the xray, how deep the filling is, if the nerve (or pulp) of the tooth has been exposed to bacteria, signs of infection, fractures, diagnostic pulp tests to see if the tooth still responds to stimuli, etc... It is also important to have confidence in one's dentist! I strongly recommend that your sister or nephew ask the dentist why a root canal is necessary and what he/she bases the diagnosis on. I hope you find this information useful!