Are root canals dangerous to your health?

No: Failure to treat a tooth that needs root canal therapy can be dangerous to your health. Your dentist should be able to give you more information after examining your tooth.

Abscesses are worse: Root canal therapy is the treatment for removal of infected nerve tissue. Left untreated the infection can progress into a serious abscess in the jaw bone. Much more serious health problems occur when abscesses burst into the bloodstream , potentially, even fatal. You only have three choices in this life: 1 fix the tooth 2 pull the tooth or 3 live with the pain. You probably don't want option 3.

Absolutely Not: Root canal treatment is the only way to save a tooth that has had its pulp (nerve) infeted with bacteria. Root canal treatments have been performed for over a 100 years, and there are about 40 mil rcts performed a year. There are a few books with very bad science that have been written in unscientific ways that have no scientific basis badmouthing root canal treatment, that are baseless.

Only if...: Having rct performed by a skilled and trained dentist is a very common, safe & predictable procedure. The only danger that i can see associated with having rct is if there is also an infection present, not being covered adequately with antibiotics. In that case, it´s the infection that is potentially dangerous and not the rct. If the infection cannot be controlled, then extraction is warranted.

No: The root canal procedure itself is not dangerous to your health. The infection leading to a root canal can be. If your abscess penetrates your bone and makes its way through the soft tissue, it may cause swelling due to the pus build up, and would require antibiotics management.

No!: Actually the opposite, Root canals remove diseased tissue, treat abscesses, save teeth so diet and speech and appearance remain optimal! Root canals are a procedure that enhance and improve your health if they are required!