Do you have a tooth that's been bothering you? Have you been told that you'll need to have a root canal to fix the issue? Although even the suggestion of root canals can be scary, root canals themselves typically aren't as bad as you might think. Despite what you may have heard in the past, a root canal is a relatively simple process that should be relatively easy for you. Some of the things that you may want to know about your upcoming root canal include:

Antibiotic prescription: If there's any chance at all that the tooth might have or might develop an abscess, your root canal dentist will give you a prescription for antibiotics to take before your appointment. He or she may give you sufficient antibiotics to last until several days after the root canal as well, just as a precaution to ensure that the surrounding area doesn't get re-infected. Taking the antibiotics may help bring down inflammation in your tooth and in the surrounding area so that your mouth may feel so good that you'll be tempted to cancel your root canal. This relief is only temporary, unfortunately, and can return quickly once the antibiotics are gone. As a result, it's important to make sure that you're able to get to your appointment so that the root canal can happen.

Root canals are (almost) painless: It's a common trope on TV and in movies that when anyone goes to the dentist to have a root canal, they will complain about how much the root canal hurt. Although this might once have been true, modern dental medicine has advanced since the time of your grandparents or great-grandparents. There are several types of dental anesthetics that your root canal dentist will have available to use in your mouth. The procedure should be no more painful than having a filling put onto one of your teeth. There may be some discomfort involved, but actual pain should be limited.

Root canals can take a while: The worst part about a root canal may be that they can take a long time to complete. Since teeth are small, your root canal dentist will need to be very careful when cleaning out the inflamed and infected material from the tooth. Unfortunately, this can take an hour or more to complete. Once the root canal is finished, you're still not done. You'll have to return again in a few days so that your dentist can put a crown on your tooth to protect it. All of this can take a long time but can be worth it when you don't have to replace your natural teeth with artificial ones.

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