If I know I have a tooth infection and need a root canal treatment, is it a dental emergency or can I wait? If so, how long can I go before I have to get it?
Jannie
Dear Jannie,
I can only give you general guidelines here. It would be impossible for me to say with anything definitive without examining you. That being said, if the tooth is hurting at all. Even if it was recently hurting but is pausing at the moment, I would get it treated as soon as possible. A live infection will spread. I would consider that an urgent dental situation and get it taken care of as soon as possible. Your jaw is quite close to your brain, heart, and lungs. If it reaches one of those it can end up turning life-threatening quite quickly.
If it is not hurting and hasn’t in a while, then you are probably okay to wait, but if it begins to hurt again, that will mean the infection has become active again. Some people go for years with a tooth that needed a root canal treatment and do fine. Others, need to get it repaired rather quickly.
I tend to err on the side of caution. You want to get it done sooner so you don’t have to worry about it any longer or have it hanging over your head.
It is completely up to you. There is not a right or wrong way to handle it if you do not have an active infection.
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