Root canal treatment, he says has many advantages including efficient chewing, normal biting force and sensation, natural appearance and finally protecting other teeth from excessive wear or strain.
He says the process of a root canal takes two to three days of doctor's appointment with the first one involving removing all the decaying parts of the tooth and the inflamed nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth and the dentist will put a temporary filling for you with some medicine and you will be free from pain.
"The second appointment will be through cleaning of the root canal system that was affected and introducing an antibiotic to kill any bacteria that may have escaped the cleaning. The last appointment will be to fill the space at the centre, that is the root canal space it is an inert material that will last forever as long as you live," he explains.
Recovery can take two to four hours and you will experience only the numbing effect that may take 24 hours and should not be painful.
One can eat after two hours before going to see the dentist for the root canal so long as he or brushes them.
"The doctor can prescribe for you a painkiller and an antibiotic because the root canal is a bacteria infection mostly," he says.
Root canal treatment can be done on all teeth except the wisdom teeth because we do not need them and they give problems in future and are too far away and mouth opening thus becomes a problem. He says its failure is unlikely if it's cleaned well and antibiotics described.
The cost of root canal treatment varies depending on the type of tooth.
"Molars are more difficult to treat and the fee is usually higher. Most dental insurance policies provide some coverage for endodontic treatment," he says.
An extracted tooth must be replaced with an implant or bridge to restore chewing function and prevent adjacent teeth from shifting. These procedures tend to cost more than endodontic treatment and appropriate restoration.
Life-threatening
Failure to undergo root canal treatment, he says may lead to infection proceeding from the tooth to the jawbone, then it can be carried elsewhere in the body.
"It can be life-threatening especially if the lower molars are involved, blocking the airway. Root canal reduces the risk of other diseases including cancer. Research done in 2013 says those who do root canal have a 45 per cent less risk of getting cancer," he says.
After treatment, one can brush the teeth after two hours and you can drink anything else apart from smoking, which reduces the healing because of nicotine.
A root canal, he says, does not kill the tooth, and after treatment, the tooth will be able to function normally. However, root canals do remove the nerves inside the tooth, but these nerves serve very little function in a fully formed tooth.
He said a root canal can be done under local anaesthesia on the dental chair and one does not need to go to theatre after the doctor administers an injection around the tooth.
"In special cases like for patients with disabilities like epilepsy or cerebral palsy and have altered opening of the mouth then it can be done under general anaesthesia in theatre," he says.
According to Dr Simiyu, tooth extraction should be the last resort and when the tooth is shaking, does not mean the solution is removal as most do.
"The shaking means the pressure due to the pus and the root canal will remove that pus and after the root canal, it remains stable," he said.