Root Canal Therapy
What is a root canal?
A root canal is one of the most common dental procedures performed, well over 14 million every year in North America. This treatment can save your natural teeth and prevent the need for extraction.
At the center of your tooth is pulp. Pulp is a collection of blood vessels and nerves that helps to build the surrounding tooth. Infection of the pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep decay, cracks and chips, or multiple dental procedures. Signs and symptoms of a diseased pulp can be identified by visible traumatic injury or decay of the tooth, sensitivity to temperature, spontaneous pain in the tooth or swelling of the gums or adjacent tissues.
If you experience any of these symptoms, your dentist will most likely recommend endodontic treatment to eliminate the diseased pulp. This injured pulp is removed and the root canal system is thoroughly cleaned and sealed. This therapy involves local anesthesia and may be completed in one or more visits depending on the treatment required. Success for this type of treatment occurs in about 95% of cases. If your tooth is not amenable to endodontic treatment or the chance of success is unfavorable or hopeless, you will be informed at the time of the consultation in most cases. Sometimes we are unable to confirm the prognosis until treatment has been initiated.
Most patients are comfortable returning to their daily normal routine following treatment including driving.
What happens after treatment?
When your root canal therapy has been completed, a report of your treatment and restorative recommendation when indicated will be sent to your referring/restorative dentist.
You should contact their office for a follow-up restoration within a few weeks of treatment completion at our office. Your restorative dentist will discuss and help you decide on what type of restoration is necessary to protect the structural integrity of your tooth for the long term. It is rare for endodontic patients to experience complications after routine endodontic treatment or microsurgery. If a problem does arise, please feel free to contact us directly.
How much will it cost?
The cost associated with this procedure can vary depending on factors such as the severity of damage to the affected tooth, the tooth type and treatment/procedures necessary. In general, endodontic treatment is much less expensive than tooth removal and replacement with an artificial tooth.