If you lost one or two molars to tooth decay in the past, you may want to preserve the rest of your molars as much as you possibly can. But if you fear dental treatment, you may miss out on the opportunity to save your remaining molars. You can preserve your molars with root canal treatment. Learn why it's important to preserve your molars and how root canal treatment helps you do it below.

Why Should You Preserve Your Molars?

Every tooth in your mouth plays a vital role in maintaining your health. Teeth not only allow you to maintain a healthy diet, but teeth may also reduce your risk factors for dementia, menopause-related gum disease, and other health issues. But to protect your health, you must preserve all of your teeth and not just your remaining molars.

Teeth contain nerves, blood vessels, and other living tissues. Living tissues require blood to complete their functions. However, bacteria and other organisms that live in your mouth can slowly infect the tissues in your molars. If the infection of the molars spread to neighboring teeth, it can eventually cause widespread tooth damage in your mouth.

You can preserve your molars with root canal treatment.

How Can Root Canal Treatment Preserve Your Molars?

Root canal treatment is one of the methods dentists use to preserve badly decayed molars. The treatment allows a provider to clean the deepest parts of a molar, including the roots. Once an infection reaches the roots of a molar, it can be very difficult to confine or treat. 

During root canal treatment, a dentist will isolate your molar, or molars, from the rest of your teeth. A dentist needs to keep infectious material from spreading to the healthy teeth in your mouth.

After they isolate your molars, a dentist will:

• remove all of the decay from your tooth or teeth
• rinse and sterilize your tooth or teeth
• fill the empty cavities and roots of your tooth or teeth

A dentist may take additional steps to preserve your tooth or teeth after treatment. The additional steps may include covering your tooth or teeth with special ceramic caps or crowns. The protective crowns prevent the bacteria inside your mouth from entering your tooth or teeth while they heal. 

If you want to save and preserve the rest of your molars with root canal treatment, consult a dentist in your area or online today.

For more information on a root canal, contact a professional near you.