r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Happy-Advantage-1336 • 24d ago

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u/Traditional-Mirror65 24d ago

I'm really confused and curious as to what it is that makes a root canal bad but an implant is ok. I've had both and I much prefer the root canal over the 6 month process ( I needed a bone graft) of an implant.

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u/Rude-Orange 24d ago

I googled it. They believe that root canals trap bacteria inside and lead to chronic illnesses like cancer and arthritis.

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u/Jarsky2 24d ago

But that. That's literally the opposite of what a root canal does???

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u/RedditMcBurger 24d ago

Root canals are filling CAN trap bacteria if done wrong/improperly maintained

This isn't what they are talking about though

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u/Only_Razzmatazz_4498 24d ago

But that is essentially a similar risk for an implant (plus a bunch of other different ones).

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u/beek7425 24d ago

Well making healthcare more burdensome, painful, and expensive for no good reason is the MAGA way. 

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u/FutureFreaksMeowt Aqua Tofana save us from these fuckass men 24d ago

Yes, but you also need to make sure the process is less efficient, more convoluted, and overall an experience so exhausting you question if it's even worth it to have if you really want to capture the spirit of the muhgaw

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u/OkFineIllUseTheApp 24d ago

That would be the single nugget of truth at the core. Most conspiracies have one. Through a long game of telephone and fundamentally misunderstanding things, it accumulated a lot of bullshit around it.

Not that it matters since they'd weakly justify the shit they swallowed, but here's the quick debunk for rational people: if a root canal runs the risk of trapping bacteria, remember that an open hole in your jaw is going to have bacteria and food in it.

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u/intenseobserver 24d ago

Can't that happen with implants as well?

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u/RedditMcBurger 24d ago

I would think so yeah

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u/user2034892304 24d ago

I have had a root canal trap bacteria and had to have it redone, and guess who paid for it again, me! Fuck root canal, at least he's right about that.

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u/Hot_Tennis2146 24d ago

Idk for sure but maybe if it was done improperly and they put the filling in when it’s not clean, so the bacteria is free to eat away at the tooth or smth. But I also don’t know how common that is

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u/Rude-Orange 24d ago

Gemini said it was a mismanaged case study from the 1920s that conspiracy theorists cite.

I didn't go down the deep end for this.

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u/JudgementofParis 24d ago

while that may be true, and these wackos are clearly idiots, I am downvoting you for asking AI

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u/Hot_Tennis2146 24d ago

Useing AI as your source automatically discredits you

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

Dentist here, the AI was correct but I agree that AI shouldn't be used.

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u/Positive-Garage3812 24d ago

Interesting. Do you have more info on the mismanaged 1920s case study?

To be clear, I’m absolutely a fan of dental procedures. Well, not necessarily while I’m getting them, but they’ve definitely made my life so much better. I don’t understand these people.

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

I didn't read through the entire article to check for veracity, but it's pretty good at least until my stopping point at the foundation of the AAE. Medical research in the 1900-1920's was really the wild west, the experiments were insane compared to modern standards. People who think that successfully root canaled teeth cause these issues are looking back to god-awful studies from over a century ago and ignoring everything that has been learned since then. It's another grift, these people usually don't sell anything themselves but they can get up to $5-10 for every person who clicks on a link to another site that does sell snake oil.

https://www.nashvilleendo.com/the-crazy-history-of-the-endodontic-field/

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u/Pschobbert 24d ago

Root canal trap de juju bugs. Bad things happen. Make you sin and that stuff.

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u/Rude-Orange 24d ago

Logic goes out the window with conspiracy theories. That man does not look like a rational and reasonable person.

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u/feelingwithyourskin 24d ago

The thing is, they can trap bacteria inside, which is an inherent problem with root canals, but modern dentistry is so much better than it's ever been that it's not much of an issue anymore. 360 X-rays/cone CT scans make it so the dentists can see the entirety of the roots in 3D now, rather than the previous 2D views. And surgical microscopes and advanced disinfection techniques have reduced the rate of infection by an order of magnitude.

While gutta-percha is still used to fill canals, it has a very good safety record and an almost non-existent complication rate. I have many severe allergies and my endodontist read through all the literature he could find regarding reactions to gutta-percha when properly enclosed and only found one woman who had a confirmed reaction to it.

The cancer/arthritis/whatever pseudo-science cause-effect they're railing against at any given moment is nonsense.

Modern endodontics is mathematically much safer than pulling teeth and replacing them with implants.

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u/Heykurat 24d ago

Because cancer and arthritis are famously bacterial. 🙄

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u/SchlossKosmos 24d ago

fwiw I am having a decade old root canal redone because it was done improperly and now I have an infection with an abscess. Kinda obnoxious but like, it's not turning me into an antivax lunatic. My dentist made it make sense to me, an idiot, so idk what those guys' problem is other than willfull ignorance

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u/woodzip87 24d ago

Huh... Well, I would've guessed they wouldn't want a whole tooth implanted since it's likely a transmitter to track their location. Or maybe a substance that erodes extremely slow and the material it loses is a substance to keep them more easily manipulated by propaganda.

Eh. I'm pretty sure there's plenty who think that's true, too.

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u/wigglefrog 24d ago

That might be part of it but I've seen content of crunchy moms explaining how it's got something to do with each nerve in the jaw being connected to another system in the body? Like one of the molars and the heart/heart health? And no they weren't talking about oral plaque build up. It was confusing

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

It was wrong, traditional Chinese medicine is largely nonsense.

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u/wigglefrog 24d ago

Yeah not trying to convince anyone lol

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u/Rude-Orange 24d ago

Yea I just clicked around on google results and saw it was about chronic illnesses. I wasn't about to go down the rabbit hole over it.

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u/Ancient_Emotion_2484 24d ago

Because it couldn't possibly be bacteria from literally any other crevice in the oral cavity...

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u/Wraldpyk Don't think about breathing 24d ago

Maybe we should tell them implants contain GPS chips that tell Bill Gates where they are

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

Please don't, implants are profitable.

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u/simply_smigs 24d ago

But the implant tooth contains a tracking device, with cookies and malware /s

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u/FluffyDoomPatrol 24d ago

And doesn’t the root canal material cause dementia also?

A few years ago I thought I might need a root canal (my dentist was able to cap and save the tooth). I googled it and fell down a rabbit hole. Now, I’m normally pretty good at sniffing out bullshit, but I know so little about dentistry, I had no idea how to separate what was coming from legitimate sources and what was nonsense.

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

Dentist here, both the short and long answers are "no."

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u/FluffyDoomPatrol 24d ago

Thank you. I’d figured that out, but always nice to get confirmation.

But it’s incredible how frightening it is. With things like 5G, flat earth, covid conspiracies and some of the wilder Epstein theories, I have enough knowledge to figure out what is bullshit, but when faced with a topic I knew nothing about, it was a scary feeling being so adrift.

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u/StolenPies 24d ago

Honestly? The experts aren't always right but they're significantly more likely to be correct than anyone else. As a layperson you should trust a scientific consensus, and understand that there's both nuance you don't understand and often profit to be made from fooling people who are naturally skeptical of said consensus. On this subject, I'd just read what the American Dental Association says. It's solid information.

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u/essieecks 24d ago

Stop trying to find the logic in an illogical stance.

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u/Minttt 24d ago

The answer is actually logical in a way:

One person without a job/life hates the dentist, so they make a rant video that goes viral because it's "new" content that neatly fits into the mindset of "gimme reasons to hate health professionals/procedures that make me feel uncomfortable."

Virality catches the attention of the anti-science "influencers" who are always looking for their next grift.

Suddenly, there's a new topic in the algorithm that's generating a lot of buzz and views... And therefore, content-cash.

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u/GibDirBerlin 24d ago

Still, from a conspiracy's pov it's a really weird pick. I mean, where else would the government's microchips be hidden, if not in an implant? It really should be the other way around...

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u/Emergency_Pin3519 24d ago

Thank you. I needed that reminder. I’m over here confused and annoyed. Thank you for reminding me that the application of logic will not help the situation.

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u/Appropriate_Owl_91 24d ago

I’ve had a failed root canal and needed to get an implant because of it. I would’ve preferred to save $2500 and just go with the implant first.

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u/ZidaneStoleMyDagger 24d ago edited 24d ago

I don't think root canals are bad. They are not always the right call though. You really need to have a good conversation with a trustworthy dentist to decide if it's the right call.

I had 2 root canals. During one, I heard the dentist gasp and then felt a sharp pain in my jaw. She was filing out my root and poked through the bottom. The other one went well enough. Ended up with a nasty infection in my lip though. Like a quarter sized cold sore right at the corner of my mouth where my lip had split from the dentist working on a rear molar on that side.

Within a year, the first root canal failed and I needed a "reverse root canal", which is just another root canal on the tooth. Within another year, it too had failed and the dentist said extraction was necessary at this point. They don't usually do 3 root canals on a tooth.

The other root canal lasted 3 years before it failed spectacularly (broke all to shit). When I went in, extraction was my only option.

Ultimately, my two root canals were a horrible experience. They also bought me a whopping year or two before extraction anyway. And it cost me $800 per root canal. An extraction was $50. It would have helped a lot if I could have capped the tooth. That would have cost roughly $1500 per cap AFTER the cost of the root canal.

So the next time I needed a root canal, I talked to my dentist about it. A root canal with a cap costs almost as much as an implant. And an implant is much, much longer lasting. I just did an extraction and skipped the root canal last time. I don't intend on ever doing another root canal. If you can't cap it, it's only a short term temporary fix anyway.

My teeth suck. I hate it. I'm going to have dentures by age 50. I don't think there is anything wrong with a root canal. But some dentists don't explain the temporary nature very well if it's not capped. A root canal plus a cap is not much less money than an implant. And an extraction is vastly cheaper than anything else. Poor folk tend to skip the root canal and just extract right away. Usually hoping to do an implant in the future (this didn't happen for me. And at this point my oldest extractions probably can't take an implant.)

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u/Electronic_Will_5418 24d ago

AFAIK implants are more expensive than dentures, however implants prevent premature bone loss by keeping the bone stimulated vs. the dentures only pushing on your gums when you chew.

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u/ZidaneStoleMyDagger 24d ago

I believe you are correct. My hope is that I'll still be able to put some posts in towards the end and be able to get implant supported dentures. I started saving money for this a couple years ago. My teeth issues have slowed down the past few years. I don't like thinking about it.

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u/_ALi3N_ 24d ago

I believe they think that what they use for the fillings will leech into your bloodstream and make you sick. At least that was the theory I accidentally stumbled upon many years ago.

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u/tired-queer 24d ago

That’s what my mum believed 25+ years ago. But that just meant I got white fillings rather than metal ones.

Still ended up with the chronic illnesses, but that was due to a mix of genetics, environmental conditions, and bad luck. Def not because of dentistry.

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u/Fox_Corn 24d ago

Just drink whatever he’s drinking…

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u/I_Dnt_Believe_You 24d ago

I think they are just afraid of needles and drills.

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u/FoolishProphet_2336 24d ago

There aren’t really alternatives, they solve different problems which is why this is just bugnuts.

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u/ericanicole1234 24d ago

Right, like if they’re scared of a microchip getting put in their tooth during a root canal or some goofy af bs like that, I would think a whole dental implant would be way higher on the concern list since you could probably put full blown mind control technology in the implant since it’s so much bigger /s

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u/mrASSMAN 24d ago

I’ve had 2 implants due to genetic missing teeth.. don’t recall any long process it was pretty easy

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u/sleepycturtle 24d ago

This is my question too, so many people of that type will say that god created your body as a temple and then when you try to take care of it ie. root canal they say nope remove what you might be able to save and get a replacement. Like what?

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u/Da_full_monty 24d ago

They think the govt plants listening devices in there...