How does a root canal save a tooth? Isn’t it dead without the roots?
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the root is still there, they just drill out the infected pulp (stuff inside the root) and take out the nerves
The hard tooth parts remain. It is the soft insides (which got infected so are probably lost anyway) that get removed. The choice is to pull the entire tooth or leave the tooth but take out, and cut the tooth inside off from nerves, blood, and anything that can rot. Put a little cap at the jaw-end of the root to prevent decayable stuff from getting in.
It is better in most cases to keep the hard bony-like tooth in place and attached to the jaw than to remove it completely. Sort of the same reason that a tooth with a cracked or broken top will get replaced by a crown. The tooth roots are still firmly attached so the tooth can still be used.
Now that implants are better and somewhat common, the total loss of the tooth (leaving only soft tissue in its place) can be somewhat fixed by putting in a man-made “tooth” and attaching it right to the jaw by a screw or something. Usually still better to have the natural hard tooth parts, so the dentist will usually try to keep the hard parts if it can be done. Better for the health of the patient. usually.
And yes, the tooth is “dead”, but the tooth hard parts weren’t really alive anyway. It feels a bit odd at first, numb, or not sensing, after a root canal. You do still get input from sensations in the nearby gums, but the tooth spot loses any feeling. It won’t feel hot and cold, and it feels empty, sort of. I don’t know how to describe it well. You get quite used to it though.
Dentistry is a relatively barbaric practice still. Despite advances in other areas almost all dental procedures are destructive in nature.
Cavities are opened up wider. Root canals hollow out the center, kill the nerve, and get sealed after.
Most of these procedures simply allow you to continue using your teeth, but they do not restore or heal them. Instead they remove the decay and attempt to seal it from future damage in the same area. This technique has limits.
What “saving” the tooth means in this context is really just that you can keep using it and don’t need it extracted to avoid infections.
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