Unfortunately, tens of millions of root canals are performed every year. When the nerve of a tooth becomes infected or abscessed due to decay, a crack or trauma, Root Canal Therapy (RCT) has long been thought to be the only way to treat the tooth. The infected nerve is removed and replaced with a filling substance called gutta percha. The now brittle tooth is often crowned.
Even though RCT may allow you to keep your tooth for quite some time, it is not a treatment that the Dentists here at Groton Wellness fully endorse. In a root canal-treated tooth, most of the nerve is removed; however, countless minute tubules leading from the central nerve canal remain untreated. When you consider that the average tooth contains over three miles of these tubules, you can see that it is impossible to reach and clean them all! Debris collects, excess tissue putrefies and becomes infected, and bacteria flourish. The resultant production of toxic gases and solutions from these chronic infections challenge the immune system and can lead to illness.