A root canal's goal is simple: eliminate infection and save a tooth. It's not the nightmare it's made out to be.

Sometimes, a tooth can become so severely damaged or infected that your dentist might discuss a couple of different kinds of treatment plans with you. The first is a root canal, and the other is a ...

Nobody wants to hear those two words from their dentist: “root canal.” The procedure has such a bad reputation that people use it as a metaphor for anything unpleasant and painful. But here’s some ...

Gum disease — medically known as periodontitis — affects 47.2% of adults over age 30 in the U.S. About 8.5% of them may have severe periodontitis. Gum disease is a severe infection or inflammation of ...

Lizzie Duszynski-Goodman is a journalist living in the Midwest with her husband and two young children. Her work explores the intersection of mental health, wellness and parenting. She is the former ...

What factors should dentists consider before extracting a badly decayed first permanent molar in a child, and what are the consequences of removing or restoring it? Since there's no clear consensus ...

Les Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, ...