the.com/root canal
Dentistry's way of proving pain is temporary but the bill is forever.
means A dental procedure that removes infected or damaged pulp from inside a tooth, then cleans and seals the space so the tooth can stay put instead of being pulled.
from Straightforwardly anatomical: the 'canal' is the narrow channel running through the root of a tooth, housing the pulp, nerves, and blood vessels. 'Root' and 'canal' are both plain, old words — root from Old Norse/Germanic roots for the underground part of a plant, canal from Latin canalis, meaning pipe or channel. The procedure got named for exactly where it works: down into that tiny internal passage. The phrase's grim reputation as shorthand for dread ('I'd rather have a root canal') is a much newer, purely cultural addition — the dentistry came first, the dread came after.
- actual target
- removes infected nerve, not the tooth
- pain myth
- modern anesthesia makes it feel like a filling
- survival rate
- treated teeth last 10+ years, 95 percent of time
- cultural reputation
- shorthand for worst possible experience, undeservedly