“Patients should consider investing in endodontists with the best equipment as it saves money as well as teeth in the end.”
This advice from the journalist Anthea Gerrie in a health supplement of the Jewish Chronicle is a very welcome validation of an endodontist’s investment.
In her article, Anthea describes how she came to see me with her three problem teeth. Unfortunately, her treatment didn’t have a fairytale ending. The teeth were cracked and beyond repair.
But her experience led to the thoughtful article with the headline: Fatal flaws in our jaws. She was interested that I had to open up the tooth before I could provide a diagnosis and opinion. The reason, I explained, is that fillings obscure the tiny cracks that can form down the inside of a tooth or on the floor of the pulp chamber.
It’s only by removing the filling and using an operating microscope that you can see what’s really going on. Although it’s frustrating to initiate the procedure and then abandon it when a tooth is beyond repair, she at least knew we had both done all we could to save the tooth. As she observed, the high cost of a crown is worth it only if the root canal work has been properly executed. Otherwise the tooth will ultimately fail. She also endorsed the Wand, the device I use for delivering a local anaesthetic – “at least I can confirm root canal is painless”.
Treating Anthea highlighted to me how important communication is around cracked teeth. At the Harley Street Centre for Endodontics we see several a week because they are the most complex cases and belong in specialist practice.
Teeth may be the strongest parts of the body but unlike bone, they don’t heal when fractured. Returning to the fairytale theme, as Anthea rightly states, endodontics is the Cinderella of dental practice. If that makes me a prince, my shining armour is my superb technology and it’s great to have had recognition from a high quality publication like The Jewish Chronicle.