Root Canal Treatment
Your Dentist has found a problem inside one of your teeth, and has referred you to an endodontist.
What endodontics is
Every tooth has a space inside it containing the tissue that formed the tooth originally. When that tissue becomes infected or damaged, through decay, a crack, a deep filling or an injury, it often doesn’t recover on its own.
Endodontic treatment removes the infected tissue, cleans and disinfects the space inside the tooth, and seals it so bacteria cannot grow in that space. The tooth stays in your mouth and continues to function normally.
An Endodontist is a dentist who has done additional specialist training in this one area.
What we do
Root canal treatment. The treatment described above, on a tooth that has not been treated before.
Retreatment. Where a tooth has had root canal treatment previously and the problem has returned, we can often reopen the tooth, remove the old filling material, clean the canals again and reseal them.
Cracked teeth. Assessment of whether a cracked tooth can be saved, and treatment where it can.
Dental trauma. Where a tooth has been injured, your own Dentist usually manages the immediate situation. We take over the endodontic care afterwards.
Limited surgical procedures, selected case by case. Most surgical cases we refer to an Oral Surgeon.
How we work
All examinations and treatment are carried out under high-level magnification. A rubber dam isolates the tooth throughout. Radiographs are taken during the procedure to confirm what is happening inside the tooth as we go.
Your alternatives
If you have been referred for endodontic treatment you generally have three options: no treatment, endodontic treatment, or having the tooth extracted.
Leaving it untreated can lead to serious consequences and may make the tooth harder to treat later. We do not normally recommend it.
If you choose extraction rather than endodontic treatment, that would be arranged by your referring Dentist. After an extraction, your options include:
Do nothing. Other teeth may move, which can change your appearance, cause joint problems, increase the risk of decay and gum disease, and put more load on the remaining teeth.
A denture. Replaces the missing tooth and is removable. The load of chewing is usually distributed across the remaining teeth.
A fixed bridge. Crowns on the adjacent teeth with a false tooth suspended between them. There are many designs.
An implant. Placed within the bone with a crown fixed on top. Suitability requires careful assessment of bone quantity and quality, among other factors.
Orthodontics. In some cases the space can be closed by moving teeth, usually for missing upper first molars, though sometimes for other teeth.
We will go through all of these with you before you decide anything.
What treatment cannot promise
We will do our best to save a tooth that is already compromised. Endodontic treatment is not always successful. Cracks or future decay can let bacteria back into the roots. Sometimes there are spaces inside a tooth harbouring bacteria that we cannot reach. Sometimes infection sits beyond the end of the root and can only be dealt with surgically or by extraction. Rarely, an instrument used to clean a canal will fracture and prevent complete disinfection of the remainder. File fracture is uncommon, but it is a risk inherent in root canal treatment.
If you have periodontal (gum) disease, that may lead to the loss of the tooth in the longer term regardless of what we do.
Your tooth will still need restoring
Once we have finished, your own Dentist places the permanent filling or crown. That work is separate from ours and charged separately by them. Until the tooth is properly restored it is not protected.
What happens at your appointment