Yeah, look at that whole root canal thing. In earlier days they would just pull a tooth like that. But there isn't much money in pulling a tooth.
Maybe there was less money in pulling teeth, but then you end up without teeth. Not a good result. The strategy, and I think it's a good one, is to save one's teeth, not remove them.
If you have a tooth pulled, you have to live toothless (no more cost) or replace the tooth with something artificial which costs much more than a root canal.