Root Canal treatments are carried out when the inside of the tooth (the root or pulp) becomes infected or damaged.

Infection and damage to the root can be very painful, creating inflammation with the risk of severe pain and swelling. Root Canal Treatment eliminates the cause of the pain by completely removing the diseased or damaged tissue from the tooth. The root canal is meticulously cleaned, shaped and decontaminated, before securely filling it back up with a durable, inert material. This means you can be pain free whilst keeping your original tooth.

There have been great innovations in the last few years to improve the comfort, speed and efficiency of this treatment. Our dentists are experienced, highly skilled and keep up-to-date with the most current concepts in Root Canal Treatment to ensure that they deliver the best possible care for our patients.

It may be necessary to extract the tooth and replace it with a removable denture or a fixed solution such as a bridge or implant.

Replacing it may not always be possible and will possibly cost more than keeping your own tooth that is naturally ‘anchored’ in your jaw

.If the tooth is not replaced, problems may occur such as tipping of the adjacent teeth and over-eruption of the opposite tooth, regulating in gaps opening between teeth and possible bite problems.

If you need a local anaesthetic, we will give it to you a few minutes before the procedure, to give it time to work. It may not be required if the tooth is completely dead.We use a microscope to identify and create a hole in the top of your tooth and remove the dead or diseased pulp.

We then clean out the root canals, this can take more than one visit. If more than one visit is required, we will put a temporary filling in your tooth to keep it sealed until you go back for the next stage of your treatment.

If a second visit is needed, we will remove the temporary filling and continue with the cleaning process. We then seal your tooth to prevent infection and further damage. If there is a risk that your tooth may become damaged or broken it may be suggested to have a crown fitted. This is an artificial cap that fits over your tooth and acts as ‘armour plating’ for the tooth.

For teeth which have not been previously root treated, the success rate depends on how many root canals are in the tooth, the severity of the infection and the skill of the dentist. A front tooth usually has only one or two canals and success rates of 95% are likely.

Root canal treatment on molar teeth is much more complex than on front teeth as they have multiple, often curved root canals and access to do the treatment is more difficult. Teeth which have been previously root treated are also much more difficult to re-treat.

In more difficult cases, such as molar teeth it is recommend that you see a specialist in root canal who has the skills and much more experience in treating difficult situations and will most certainly make the treatment easier for you and give a higher success rate.

If you require further information on your root canal treatment please do not hesitate to contact us.