EP #9: Root Canal, Demystified

Root canals have a reputation problem, not a pain problem. We open the black box and show how endodontic therapy actually works: from the three-layer tooth anatomy (enamel, dentin, pulp) to why cold zings happen, what a lingering night ache means, and how that tiny gum “pimple” signals a draining abscess. With clear explanations and zero fluff, we map the journey from diagnosis to comfort: gentle anesthesia, rubber dam isolation, precise cleaning of the canals, and a tight seal with gutta‑percha—often followed by a crown to prevent fractures and restore long‑term function.

We also lay out the choices like a trusted friend would. When does a filling suffice? When is a crown non‑negotiable? How do you weigh saving the tooth with a root canal versus replacing it with a dental implant? Using 3D CBCT imaging, we reveal hidden canals, evaluate cracks, and estimate prognosis so you can make a smart, confident decision. We talk costs, durability, bite feel, esthetics, and the honest trade‑offs that matter for your daily life and budget.

Prevention gets its spotlight too. Learn how brushing and flossing schedules, fewer “sipping windows,” and quick water rinses after acidic drinks cut cavity risk. Understand how diet, stress, and delayed appointments turn simple fillings into bigger fixes. Most of all, hear why a modern root canal can be calm and quick—and why keeping your natural tooth often pays dividends in comfort and function.

If this changed your mind about root canals, subscribe, share with a friend who’s nervous about dental work, and leave a review to help others find the show. Have a question or a story about your own treatment? Drop it in the comments so we can bring it up next time.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stage Without Alex
• 1:07 Why Root Canals Trigger Fear
• 2:24 Tooth Layers And Pulp Basics
• 4:55 Filling vs Root Canal Explained
• 8:41 Pain Signals And Numbing Myths
• 10:50 3D Imaging And In‑Office Endo
• 12:53 Non‑Pain Signs: Discoloration & Cracks
• 15:20 Implants vs Root Canals: Trade‑offs
• 18:02 Gum “Pimples” And Infection Drainage
• 20:44 Step‑By‑Step Root Canal Experience
• 24:08 Do You Always Need A Crown?
• 26:02 Trust, Options, And Cost Realities
• 29:06 Prevention: Habits That Save Teeth
• 31:24 Diet, Acids, And Sugar Reality
• 33:38 Final Reassurance And Takeaways
• 36:32 Outro And Listener CTA

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to the Semeday Dental Podcast. We're here to provide you expert insights on how dentistry can improve your quality of life and extend your health span. I'm Alex Semeday and I'm a practicing dentist. And I'll be your host, along with Jeremy Wolf. Enjoy the show.

SPEAKER_02: 0:18

Well, hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to Semeday Dental Podcast. Jeremy Wolf here. And as you you might notice if you're watching this, Dr. Alex is not here today. We got rid of him, didn't we?

SPEAKER_00: 0:30

I no, we did not get rid of Dr. Alex. We love Dr. Alex.

SPEAKER_02: 0:33

We love Dr. Alex around here.

SPEAKER_00: 0:35

He is on vacation, so I'm hijacking his podcast. And as you can see, I don't have the same facial hair.

unknown: 0:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 0:41

You are you're a lot more pretty than he is, I must say.

SPEAKER_00: 0:44

Well, I I do tell patients that when they come in and they're like, you're not Dr. Alex. I go, I hope I'm prettier.

SPEAKER_02: 0:50

So okay, so topic for discussion today is it is something that it's it's funny. When I hear this, I think I think a lot about a lot of people out here out there can identify this. When I hear this, I I instantly get triggered. I don't even know why, because I don't know that I've ever actually had one done. We're talking about root canals. Something about root canals just gets under everybody's skin, and it it just seems like it's going to be such a painful process. Why, why is that, right? Like again, I haven't even had I don't think I've had one done. What am I so worried about? What like let's get into this. Let's talk about what it is, why people are so scared of it, and how you make that process pretty seamless and painless at your office.

SPEAKER_00: 1:36

Absolutely, Jeremy. So oftentimes you'll hear people if something's difficult, they're like, oh, it's like pulling teeth, or I'd rather have a root canal. People say these phrases all the time, and typically they they're not connected to dentistry, so they don't really know what is entailed in these procedures. But I always laugh. I'm like, hey, hey, wait a second, it's not that bad. Like, let me break down this myth.

SPEAKER_02: 1:59

So break it down, Dr. Tart. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00: 2:01

It is very, very common that people come in and they think a root canal, it's gonna be the worst thing ever. I rather just take the tooth out.

SPEAKER_02: 2:09

It's worse than giving birth.

SPEAKER_00: 2:11

That's that's what I hear, but I gave birth and I disagree. So I've had root canals done and I've given birth. Trust me, the root canal is a walk in the park. Um, but so a root canal, people, you know, as Sem-Day Dental, we spend a lot of time educating our patients. So the first thing, day one, we explain to a patient that the tooth has three layers. We have the outside protective layer, we have the middle layer, and then the inside layer, that's where the we call it the pulp of the tooth. That pulp of the tooth has nerves in it and has some blood vessels. So when we have a cavity that reaches close to that inside layer of the tooth, that's when we start discussing a root canal therapy, is our our plan of action to save our natural tooth. So you hear root canal, you get triggered. Someone that you know in life had a poor experience with a root canal, and that's the only thing you know about root canals. So today, my goal is let's break it down. Let's talk about how do we get recommended a root canal and then what's the procedure like, and then break it down a little bit further. But like you said, it's an instant trigger of fear. And at Summit Day Dental, we're we're here to demystify all the fears. Last time we all got together, we talked about ghosting us. You don't want to ghost us because we don't want you to need a root canal, and then we have to, you know, explain again and get your your trust in patients. So the horror stories there, there's two sides, right? Anything associated with pain is gonna cause a horror story. The other thing is, is a lot of patients they don't want to be sent around the world for their dental care, they're already scared to go to a dentist, and a lot of the times, offices they do the right thing by getting you into the right hands, sending you to a specialist. And don't get me wrong, there are times where we also will send a patient out for service if a specialist is needed. But luckily, um, Dr. Alex was awesome. Um, he does implants here at the office, and I took an advanced course in endodontics. So endodontics is the specialty to do root canals. So here we do the root canals in office as well. Again, if we have to send it to the specialist, we will. But it's kind of like a one-stop shop. You can come, you can have your treatment. You don't have to meet a new provider. You can just get your treatment done in a comfort office that you're already used to. So we're really excited to extend these services to our patients and get them a little less scared of this root canal fear.

SPEAKER_02: 4:45

So let's dig into this a little further. I I want to make a I want to kind of make a draw distinction between a filling and then a root canal, because I I myself have had plenty of fillings. I think most people have. And if I understand correctly, you know, filling, you basically have like missing a space in the tooth or a gap, and then plaque and things get stuck in there, and then you go in and you take some composite or material and you fill it in, hence the name filling. Uh, if I understand correctly about the root canal, this is something where I guess you maybe you've had some exposure to the tooth and now it's kind of infiltrated down below the tooth into the root, and now you got to get into the root, clean it out, and do something in there. Is that do I have that right?

SPEAKER_00: 5:21

Or maybe you could help you're you're pretty pretty accurate. So a root canal therapy. Um, so we refer it to root canal therapy or endodontic therapy, because a root canal sounds scary, but every tooth in your mouth has a root and a canal that it goes through. Okay, so to get a little bit more specific, we call it a root canal therapy because what our the goal of a filling is that we remove infected tooth structure and replace it with a healthy replacement. Okay, a filling is good up to a certain extent if a certain amount of tooth structure is missing. We have crown time, baby. We put a crown, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 5:58

I know I know a thing or two about crowns.

SPEAKER_00: 6:00

Me too. Don't worry, Jeremy. I have a I have plenty of my own as well in the back. So what happens is is just like you were explaining, we have bacteria that affects the tooth. So it starts attacking that outside layer we were talking about, gets into the middle layer, and that middle layer gets direct communication into the nerve. So your body will actually try to fight off the cavity and protect itself from the inside out. And when the cavity gets close enough to the nerve, we start getting different symptoms. So with a with a cavity, you might say, Hey, my tooth feels weird, something's getting stuck in it. We have a physical hole. We do a filling. When the bacteria gets into the the nerve itself, that's we have to do something about that. You have pain, you have different feelings, feelings. Sometimes patients experience nothing, but the inside nerves of the tooth, they die.

SPEAKER_02: 6:51

Okay, I've got a question. I want to cut stop right there. I'm curious. Why what is it about the the pain associated with the tooth that that is that that cold pain that you get? That's that's always associated with dental pain in my mind, is that like really, really cold, sharp pain. What is it about the nerves up there that cause that kind of pain as opposed to a more dull pain or something like that?

SPEAKER_00: 7:13

So your your nerves have a level of dying, okay? So when that middle layer of the tooth is open and exposed to the world, so it broke through that first layer. You might start having some sensitivity to colds or something. So the dentin, yep, that's the dentin, Larry. Exactly. Look at you. I'm gonna tell Dr. Alex he's gonna be so excited that you remembered from your day one.

SPEAKER_02: 7:33

Maybe they got a gold star when we're done.

SPEAKER_00: 7:35

Maybe or a gold crown, your choice.

SPEAKER_02: 7:39

There you go.

SPEAKER_00: 7:39

So um, once that middle layer of the tooth is exposed, it can communicate to the nerve. So the outside world with the colds that you're drinking or the coffee you're drinking that's hot, it can send a signal to the nerve, and the nerve responds as like, oh, that's a trigger. Now, you had mentioned before a filling, a filling replaces tooth structure. A root canal therapy, we go in, we clean out the infected nerve, and then we fill the canal. So it's very similar to a filling in the sense of we're replacing the diseased part of the tooth, but the root canal therapy is specifically a filling of the root itself, if that makes sense. So a filling may be the solution to the tooth structure missing, but root canal therapy is the removal of disease of the canals of the tooth and filling that up. So it's a filling for the root. Um, you know, now that you brought it up as that stance point, like great way to explain it to a patient. We have to clean it out and then fill it up.

SPEAKER_02: 8:41

Now, are you guys using for a root canal the same type of uh like novocaine that you would use, the same type of numbing that you would use for just a general filling, or do you have to go deeper with it? Are there other types of medicines that you have to give in conjunction with the Novocaine, or it's just a little bit more, a little bit deeper?

SPEAKER_00: 8:57

So the the same way we numb a tooth is the same way we would numb a tooth for a root canal. So the only difference is that sometimes when patients come in, you had mentioned before a dull ache pain, that is your telltale sign that a tooth is infected to an extent that is beyond a feeling repairing it. So we talked about how if you have a cavity and your tooth gets that cold sensitivity, if that cold sensitivity stops as soon as you remove the cold, you know, offender, you might not need a root canal. But if you have a dull achy pain, it's it's worse at nighttime, it's a throbbing pain, those are hey, our nerve is is affected into different types of nerves, and our dot our nerve is dying. So you have that response of that ache pain. So if we see that, or if we take an x-ray and we see an infection, sometimes we have to do a treatment before we go ahead and open the tooth up to clean out the root canal. Um, and that could be an antibiotic, or it could be a draining of the infection, because any infection can interfere with our medication to numb the tooth. So that's the only difference. If we have an active infection of the nerve in the root of the tooth, sometimes we have to get a patient on medication to heal that, and then our numbing, our numbing medicine can work normal. But there's no special extra numbing technique that we have to do. The patients are comfortable, they come in, we explain the procedure before we even book it. We take a 3D scan of the teeth. I don't know if you knew this, but as somebody dental, we have the CT machine.

SPEAKER_02: 10:38

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00: 10:38

So it does a 3D view of your entire jaw, every tooth. We can see if there's an infection happening. And that's how we can help plan our treatment. So every tooth is different, no one's no one's teeth are all the same. And sometimes a tooth is supposed to have one root that it will split in the middle, and then there's multiple roots coming off of it. With this 3D service, we are able to actually map out where the nerve goes in the tooth. So when we're cleaning it, we get everything. We don't have a half-done uh root canal. And that's something that technology has advanced in the dental world to allow more thorough cleaning of these canals.

SPEAKER_02: 11:20

Aside from pain, what are some other red flags or signs that you could have an issue that uh might you might need some work, you might need to get a root canal?

SPEAKER_00: 11:32

Yeah. So I will say probably 50-50 on time. Some patients present with pain, and that's how they're diagnosed to need a root canal. The other 50% is maybe they got trauma to their tooth. It could be trauma from a long time ago, and they've always noticed this one tooth is a dark gray or a different color. And when we test the tooth with our with our test, the nerve may not respond, which means you could have a dead nerve in your mouth, it could be not affected, but it just has no life to it, which will discolor your tooth. So some people have a discolored tooth from trauma, some people can have a cracked tooth. So bacteria isn't getting in through a cavity per se, but it's coming in through the sides where the crack has happened. And then another thing is sometimes because we have goals to rebuild teeth and to give people the smile that they want, teeth are very short. I know that it seems like when we're in the mouth, we're drilling away a lot, but the truth is your tooth is very, very small and we work in very small increments. And sometimes if the nerve is too close to what we need for space, we might do what we call elective endo, which means you're getting a root canal so that we can drill further into the tooth and create our goal type of crown or smile. And it is very common that we we have a mixture. So it's 50-50 times. Sometimes they have pain, sometimes they don't. Um, sometimes we tell a patient, hey, if it doesn't bother you that it's a different color or a shade, we might not do a root canal, but that is the recommended treatment if we have further goals to correct whatever the complaint is. So root canals are not always a scary, I have an infection, this is really bad. But if we don't have enough tooth structure, the the benefit is if we take the nerve out of the tooth, we can do it's called a post. And we literally put a pole inside the tooth and then get to rebuild the base and the form of the tooth. And then we can't implant to me. Similar. So the benefits, an implant is a great option for someone who has a lot of tooth structure missing, and we can't do anything about it, and we're gonna lose a tooth. And it replaces one tooth with one implant, and it's an amazing option for those who can afford it. On the other side, a root canal therapy, it removes the infection or the problem, and it allows us to use what your body has already naturally made and accepted, yeah, and build on top of that. So there are benefits of both, and not everyone is best fit for a root canal. You know, if a tooth has has a wiggle to it, I tend to recommend to a patient, hey, doing a root canal is an option, but I don't know how long that's gonna last that patient. So if that's the case, you know, we might lean toward doing an implant because the money you're gonna invest in saving this tooth, I can't guarantee how long it's gonna last. There's nothing in dentistry that's that's forever, but we always we always put our best recommendation first of what's gonna be best for our patient long term.

SPEAKER_02: 14:48

Absolutely.

unknown: 14:50

Dr.

SPEAKER_02: 14:50

Torr, can you explain what it means if someone has a little like a small little pimple on their gums? What is that?

SPEAKER_00: 14:59

So when we think about the tooth, we talked about cavities. If a cavity is open and the the cavity is all the way into the root, the body is able to drain infection through that hole. So sometimes the pressure and everything, it has a way out. Other times, if the cavity is more internal of the tooth, patients realize that they have a pressure and a pain because the nerve infected has nowhere to go. So the inside of the tooth where the nerve is and all that the blood vessels, they'll swell up, but the tooth constricts it. So you have that aching, dull throb because there's no escape to it. If that infection infects the entire nerve, it can go out the bottom of the tooth, and that's where the infection starts going into the bone area, where patients will see on their gums, right where the tooth hurts, they get that little pimple. That's infection trying to find a way out. So when we talked about what could be different, is we have to go ahead and drain that sometimes to allow that infection to have an out, and the patient has, you know, an instant relief, but we didn't solve the problem because the bacteria is within that tooth, and until we solve that problem of the infected, the infected tissue inside the tooth, they might have that come back and forth. So they might have that pimple come and go and come and go. And whenever we have an infection in the mouth, that's going into the entire body. So if you have or if anyone listening has pimples that pop up near teeth that bother them, please go see your dentist and get a routine exam because you may not realize how much infection is happening in teeth. And when we take x-rays, we can actually see if the bone has been damaged in the area. And a lot of people don't even know what's happening, they just know that pimple. And Jeremy, it it's easy to ignore the pimple, especially when you want to ignore the dentist.

SPEAKER_02: 16:57

It's so easy to ignore ignore all this stuff until it until it becomes a problem. You hear that, everyone out there? Go get routine checkups. Not just in dentistry, like everything, like just prevention, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I can't say that enough. Okay, Dr. Tart, I want you to paint a picture here for me, right? I I said I've never had a root canal before. I come in to see you, you say, Hey Jeremy, guess what? You need a root canal. So we set up the appointment. I don't want to go, but I go in, I get into the room. Like, what walk me through the process? How long does it take? What's the first step? Um, what am I to expect? Because I think a lot of the um the trepidation that we have around this is the unknown. And if it's explained and we know exactly what we're to expect through that process, um, you know, makes us feel a little bit more comfortable, does it not? A hundred percent. So walk us through it. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00: 17:47

I'll tell you the appointment starts the appointment prior. So when we present to you, this is the treatment that's recommended. We always give the patient all the options. There's always option one, do nothing. Option two, move forward with the recommendation of cleaning out that root canal and doing the therapy. And then every time we do a root canal on a tooth, we have to go ahead and protect that because once you lose the life of the tooth on the inside, you it's a more brittle tooth. So you have to put a crown on top to protect it. And then, or they can choose an implant option or a bridge option. You know, there's several options. So we still the appointment starts the day or the appointment prior. Once the patient commits to it, we explain in detail what to expect. So when you're coming in for the actual appointment, you have a breath of air because you know why we're doing it, you understand what happened to your tooth, and then we begin. So before you come, we take that 3D x-ray. We take a 2D x-ray. So that's your traditional just checking where the root is, and then we do a 3D one. The 3D one helps us plan out exactly where the the nerve is and how we're gonna proceed forward. So that's on the doctor end. Once the patient comes in day of, you know, we at semi-day dental, we got the blanket, we have your personalized music. If you want the little eye mask, we have eye masks. So our our assisting team, they they spoil you galore, and then they bring me in, which you already are nervous to see. And then what we do, I ask if there's any other questions you a patient may be concerned with. If not, we go ahead, we get them comfortable and numb. Once they're numb, yep, comfortably numb. You know, tiny pinch, but a lot of the times we're we're complimented about I didn't even feel a thing. So that's the best compliment you can give your dentist to anyone out there. Just tell them either.

SPEAKER_02: 19:38

Am I also correct at some of the dental? I know Dr. Alex does to make sure that he's that you feel no pain with the needles. You're you you're like injecting yourself with the Novocaine to like is that is that a thing that you do there? That that we inject ourselves, no, like you you to to test uh whether or not there's any pain, like you're we work on each other, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:01

I yes, I will tell you that when I when I started back at practice with Dr. Alex, he's like, Go ahead, give me shots. So he will do pop pop shot injections so that okay he knows we we practice our comfort level. But I am a patient of Dr. Alex, so I can say personally I don't feel a thing when he does my fillings. Um, yes, dentists have cavities too. So I have a really great dentist, Dr. Alex, but um, and he told me I was good, so I'll take his word for it because I don't think I don't think there's a lying bone in that man's body. So I'll accept it. But yes, when the patient's numb, we have to put on um so at Summer Day Dental, we practice gold standard care, and it is gold standard that we we basically block off the world from the inside of that tooth. So we have to use what's called the rubber dam. A lot of people don't know this, but it's basically a little tent that goes around the tooth, and it it gives us just the review of the tooth that we're working in, so that any of the infected material is coming out of the tooth, and all the things that we're doing to the tooth are just so that one tooth. So the patient has it's a funny little look. I'll have to send it to you, but their mouth is just open and we have a bite block, so they're comfortable. And as soon as we're we we are all set up and you know, safe to start, we remove the infected tooth structure just like you would do with a normal filling, and then we open up the drilling part, right? And you get in there and we like to call it tooth removal, but yes, it's the drilling part, and um, we just go deep into to where we find the the pulp of the tooth. So the tooth has the three layers, you know, it's like the peanut MM, the enamel, the dentin, and then the pulp. So we go through the enamel, we go through the dentin, we get to the pulp, and then we start cleaning out the pulp itself. That process, we clean out the pulp of the tooth, and then we shape the inside of the tooth and remove all the dead tooth tissue that was surrounded by that bacteria. And then once we're done with that, we clean it out really well and we fill it up with something called gutta percha.

SPEAKER_02: 22:10

It's actually a percha.

SPEAKER_00: 22:12

Funny name. No one, it's pink, it's pretty. And this gutta percha that we put into the tooth, it seals off what we took out. So if we left it completely empty, like we talked about brittle, if you don't fill something up, can't can you imagine us doing a filling, taking out the cavity and not putting anything back? Not a good idea.

SPEAKER_02: 22:31

That would be no bueno.

SPEAKER_00: 22:32

Yeah, so we have to fill up the root canal. So we use something called gutta percha. It's actually found in golf balls, too. Fun fact. And um, it's from a tree. And then we we seal off this this healthy, now sterile area of your tooth. We seal it off, and then we create that buildup. That buildups what will support that crown that we we end up putting on top. And this whole procedure can be done in an hour to two hours. Um, and in that two hours, we're we're hoping to do the whole crown prep too. So we try to save our patients as long as the tooth isn't infected to a level where we have to break it into two parts, we can do your root canal and the crown prep all in one visit.

SPEAKER_02: 23:15

That's nice. Is a crown always required when getting a root canal, or are there scenarios where you wouldn't necessarily need a crown?

SPEAKER_00: 23:22

The only time that it's recommended you can get away without doing so is an anterior tooth. So the ones in the front. Sometimes if the if it's not cavity related, so there's not a lot of bacteria that took away tooth structure, we can actually remove the the root of the tooth and do the root canal, seal it off, and get away with doing a filling. But remember, Jeremy, that that inside of the tooth helps with the tooth color. So sometimes when we do a root canal on a front tooth, even though we can get away because it's less structure that we had to remove, if it wasn't a cavity reason, the problem can become if the tooth changes colors, a patient's not happy. So yeah, I would say 80% of the time a crown is rec. If it's a if it's a back tooth, 100% of the time. If it's a front tooth, you're looking at about 80% of the time, we'll recommend a crown, but there's a there's a 20% where you can get away without doing that and just do a filling on it. It's a it both ways are safe. Anyone's dentist, whoever is recommending the treatment, will will help guide you on how much tooth structure is is left for you to make that decision.

SPEAKER_02: 24:41

You know, this is why it's so important in my mind. Like I'm so happy I found I found you guys at Semiday Dental. Like, I I wanna when I go to the dentist, I wanna obviously I like to get options. I like to get, I'd like to have an explanation on what's going on, but ultimately I want to feel a level of trust with my provider, with my dentist in this case, where I could just say, like, well, doc, what what do you recommend? And like, that's what I will do because you know what the best course of action is typically for patients. And I I don't want to put that decision on myself to have to go out and then try to figure out what the best course of action is. Um, and I feel like I have that with you guys. Like, whatever, whatever you guys tell me to do, I'm I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:19

Jeremy, I will tell you this. There are several times where a patient says, What would you do? Yeah, and sometimes I shock them because I tell them, Listen, if it were me, I would do this. And they're like, But that's not, it might not be the most expensive treatment, it might not be the most, you know, long-term solution. And I said, You ask me what I would do. I'm being honest with you. So I have several fillings in my mouth from before I was a dentist where really large cavities didn't do a root canal. Some are still holding strong from back when I got these big cavities and these big fillings, but I also have two root canals in my own mouth, and I also have four crowns. So even though people think the dentist's teeth are perfect, and I will say I did Invisalign at the office to fix my crowding. I did a lot of crowns in the back. I'm not a perfect mouth, I'm a very expensive mouth. So I understand the feelings of being in the chair, being anxious for a second. I have patients who end up taking photos of their mouth when I'm trying to do their canal. And it's a really exciting moment for a patient to be involved and invested. So, like you had mentioned, you want to trust your dentist. And once you get that fear factor out, it becomes like an interest in dentistry. Not saying that everyone who has an interest or wants to learn more will become a dentist, but you're less scared and you're like, oh, look at this cool picture that no one will care about except us. But I will say that we Dr. Alex will only recommend, uh, well, he'll he'll give you all your options and then he'll inform you of his recommendation if you were his family member or himself. Same with me. I'm not shy. I'll tell you what. If you ask me for my opinion, I'll tell you it. Um, I'm also realistic what what patients are able and capable of affording. You know, I respect that. So if they share with me, I'll still option because we have great the front team is is amazing with making things affordable so people can get the the treatment that's best fit for them and not be scared of the financial scare. But I will respect what they're telling me and I will tell it, sell them here are our options, here's what I think would be the longest term solution for you. Because when people have a financial concern, you you want to respect that and you want to make sure that they're not investing in something that will fail, which is why, Jeremy, we talk about what's the other what's the alternatives. So if saving a tooth costs you X amount of money, but the same X amount of money can get you an implant, we we have those conversations. And uh if if anyone wants to check out our blog on the Summit Daydentol.com um website, you'll see we did we actually did a blog on root canals. So a lot of this the same information you could find there. There's a little chart breakdown of costs, pros, and cons of getting a root canal and a crown, getting an implant, getting a bridge, or getting something that comes in and out to replace the tooth if we decide to take it out. So there's a there's a lot of options out there, and root canal therapies are amazing because again, Jeremy, you get to save your natural tooth. And every dentist in the world wants to save natural teeth, except except oral surgeons. I guess they don't.

SPEAKER_02: 28:40

Yes, I've I've been, I must say, I've been more diligent um over the last several years with taking care of my teeth. I've been flossing more and brushing more and just trying to make sure that I'm setting myself up for success. Uh I saw a video the other day, somebody was talking about how you should always be looking out for your future self, always have your future self's back. So often in life, we don't want to deal with something now, and we just kick the can down the road until it becomes too much of a problem, and then we kick ourselves for not taking care of it earlier. It's a vicious cycle. So I'm trying to be more present and more um, you know, big on prevention. Speaking of prevention, what are some of the most common habits that eventually lead to people needing root canals?

SPEAKER_00: 29:25

So, you know, the unexpected that you can't control trauma, spontaneous infection. You people can have the best hygiene and still get, you know, an infected tooth. So I don't want people to always feel that their dental problems are a you did it, and that that's something we really stress at Semiday Dental. Life happens, and whatever you present to us, we're gonna give you your options to get you back on track to get you healthier. So some things are out of their control for root canals. You know, if they get let me tell. You once I had a kid and these headbuts, I'm like, man, I need a mouth guard just to hang out with my kid. So trauma you can't avoid, but decay, you can help protect yourself. So, like you had mentioned, brushing, brush two times a day. There are many people in this world who do not brush two times a day, they don't know this fact. So we start there. Let's brush our teeth two times a day. I always give people the goal floss three days a week if you're not doing it already. Seven days is what we we our goal is to get to. But if you floss three days a week, you're improving from zero to three. And routine dental cleanings that removes so much bacteria out of your mouth is amazing. Um, don't uh don't avoid the dentist. When you start getting that weird feeling, make your appointment. Go on and get your your regular checkup or go for a limited checkup just so that you're ahead of the game. If we are able to catch it early, it could be a solution as just a filling. If we wait, sometimes the tooth, we lose more structure, more structure, things will break. Sometimes we lose the even the option to do a root canal and we have to lose a tooth. So don't ignore those early symptoms. And then if you do have a cavity, don't wait on it. Again, a filling is an option at the time we tell you. If you wait longer, it could become a crown. If you wait even longer, it could become a root canal plus a crown. If you wait even longer, we have to take a tooth out. So, like you had mentioned before, it's it's a matter of um taking early action will save you a lot of money and stress and pain down the road.

SPEAKER_02: 31:36

What about diet? I could only imagine that uh lots of sugar in your diet is gonna be detrimental to the the health of your teeth. Speak speak to that for a moment.

SPEAKER_00: 31:47

Jeremy, you we always talk about how the mouth is a systemic connection with the rest of our body. So everything you do starts in the mouth and works its way through. I have uh I always tell patients, listen, you can eat as much sugar and candy as you'd like. I can help you protect against cavities by you know our brushing techniques, our routine dental care, this and that. I go, I can't protect you against diabetes. So anyone who knows our office, we are a Sour Patch Kid, like frequent subscriber, basically. Orange and blues are my favorite, if anyone wants to know. Um, but I'm always constantly eating candy. That's why I have so many fillings and grounds and cavities. But flossing, if you if you know the proper way to floss and brush your teeth and go to your routine checkups, you may your diet may be okay. But things like candy, soda, um, coffee, a lot of these things have an acidic factor. So if you're not doing some of these preventive cares, your tooth is constantly constantly being attacked. And the outside surface of that tooth, that enamel, that hard peanut MM shell, it can only take so much before it weakens and breaks down. And once we're into the middle layer, that's when things spread. So, Jeremy, your diet is a big factor. Um, if you're drinking soda or something, rinse your mouth after. That's one way. Rinsing your mouth with water kind of helps get rid of some of that sugar left behind on the tooth surface, but that's why it's it's so important to take those preventive measures and disrupt that sugar breakdown on our tooth surface.

SPEAKER_02: 33:22

Yeah, I can proudly say that over the last six months to a year, I've significantly decreased my sugar intake. I I really hardly ever drink soda now. I actually stopped drinking coffee about a week ago. I the older I get and like I feel my body aging, the more cognizant I am of what I'm putting inside my body to make sure that I I can live a long, healthy, fruitful life. And I'm I'm starting to feel a lot better, I must say. Sugar is the silent killer, it really is a poison to some degree.

SPEAKER_00: 33:52

You know what it is also? Stress. Stress is a silent killer, indeed. And stress paired with poor diet, your body is taking a a lot of toll that uh isn't really that recipe for disaster.

SPEAKER_02: 34:06

Yes, take care of yourselves. Yeah, one life to live. Let's make sure we live it to the fullest. Um, did we anything we missed? What what's what would you like to leave our listeners with? Just like one one little nugget, one piece of advice um regarding this issue.

SPEAKER_00: 34:25

Don't be scared when the word or topic comes up. I will tell you that in dental school I was trained by the most amazing endodontic um faculty. Shout out to Dr. Bakiri at UFCD. That was my she always told me she would see me again to become a specialist. And I told her absolutely not. And then here I am on a podcast talking about root canal. So I'll give her a call after this to let her know. But you have to understand that your your provider's doing an amazing service to help you save that natural tooth. And you might be nervous, but if you're in the right hand, you'll be able to trust that you're being treated to the standard, taking care of this infection, and you can leave your appointment feeling proud of yourself that you took care of infection in your body, and moving forward, create those goals just like you did, Jeremy, where you improve so that you don't have to be in that same situation again. We're here to help you, Semaday Dental. I always say comfort doesn't cost more. I'm not sure if Dr. Alex likes that. I don't pay the bills around here. So comfort does not cost more, and I know that that's our priority here. And our team is going to ease you in every step of the way if a root canal is in your future. I have two myself, so all the rumors are are not true. Good experiences do happen. And when we do our post-off calls, sometimes these patients just tell us they don't feel anything. So let's hope that you have that same experience if you have to be in those chairs.

SPEAKER_02: 36:02

Well, I I'll I'll just be seeing you guys for cleanings from now on. I'm not gonna have any more issues ever again in my mouth. But if you do, knock on wood. But if I do, I know where to find you guys. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 36:15

So I think I think Dr. Alex is gonna be jealous. We had so much fun. Should we should we make our own podcast, Jeremy? Absolutely. Let's do it. Okay, you have to come in op though. That that's my preferred chair side chat.

SPEAKER_02: 36:26

Okay, we will make it happen. All right, all right, we'll leave it at that. Thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in. If you found this content useful, don't forget to like, subscribe. You know the drill. Uh, if you've had an experience, be it good, be it bad, let us know about it in the comments. We're always interested to hear about your feedback. And if we missed anything, let us know as well. And we'll bring it up on the next episode. Everyone, take care, have a lovely day, and we will catch you all next time in the next episode of the Semaday Dental Podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 36:55

Bye. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Semaday Dental Podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on social media for the latest episodes. You can find us at Semeday Dental. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We're always happy to help. Until then, keep smiling and stay curious.