Not that long ago, one of the most common ways dentists treated dental issues was extraction. If a patient had a sore tooth or cracked of broken enamel, many dentists would simply pull it out.
This isn’t ancient history, either. Tooth extraction was a commonplace dental “treatment” up until the 1980s and even the ’90s.
But the problem with extraction wasn’t just the gaps it would leave in people’s smiles, it also was the pain. Pulling a tooth can be quite painful. Plus, the patient could continue to suffer from pain for hours or even days afterward — not to mention the risk of infection.
Today’s Pain-Free Dentistry
Today, tooth extraction usually is the last resort, not the first. Professional dentists in the US are trained in a wide variety of treatment approaches that will save the tooth rather than pull it out, including fillings, root canals, and other procedures that are common today.
Patients also benefit from the great strides that have been made in dental pain management technology. Most dental procedures are pain-free. Highly effective numbing agents can temporarily deaden the highly sensitive nerve endings found in and around teeth. Experienced dentists can perform even the most invasive procedures with zero pain for the patient.
Even the shots required to quiet these nerve endings are painless thanks to modern numbing agents. Typically, these will be applied to the surface area prior to the application of Novocain or other numbing agents so that patients don’t even feel the “pinch” of the needle going into their gums.
Benefitting from Dental Advancements
While most people don’t think much about it, we actually are living in the Golden Age of dentistry. Even our most recent ancestors generally dreaded going to the dentist because they knew it was going to be a painful experience that likely ended in them having fewer teeth at the end of their appointment.
But today, most patients not only get to keep all their teeth, but they don’t even have to experience any pain at all. Now that’s progress!
