All teeth have a structure known as the “pulp” at their centre. This contains nerves and blood vessels which allows the tooth to sense hot, cold and pain. Certain situations such as deep decay or cracks in the tooth can allow bacteria into the pulp. Once in, the bacteria can divide and kill off the pulp. The pressure builds up inside the tooth and an abscess forms. This process is often painful and needs urgent dental care.
Root canal treatment is the process of cleaning out dead pulp and bacteria from the inside of the tooth. The general process is as follows:
Once the infection has gone, the tooth can remain in the mouth, pain free. Before modern RCT all teeth with abscesses had to be extracted.
Some of you will have seen the film “Finding Nemo” and the infamous root canal treatment scene. That poor patient was not comfortable! We will give you anaesthetic before starting root canal treatment. If for some reason you can still feel what we are doing then we’ll stop immediately. We won’t continue until we’re sure that the tooth is fully numb.
After a root canal appointment it is normal to have some pain afterwards for a few days. This can be managed with standard painkillers like ibuprofen and paracetamol.
The time taken depends on a number of factors such as the number of roots present, how curvy the roots are and how easy the tooth is to access . As a general guide it will take two 1 hour sessions to complete or one session of 90 minutes.
If there is infection around the roots of a tooth and a patient takes antibiotics, the swelling and pain will often disappear. However, the cause of the infection – the bacteria inside the tooth – are still there as the antibiotics can’t reach the inside of the tooth. Once the patient stops taking the antibiotics, then the symptoms will return. Sadly antibiotics alone will not cure a tooth which has a dead pulp.
One alternative is to extract the tooth. This may be suitable if a patient doesn’t want to spend time and money on the root canal, or if the tooth is so broken down that there is nothing left to restore afterwards. Of course, extracting the tooth will leave a gap which a patient may want filled.
While success rates are high, root canal treatment isn’t always successful. We would define success as a tooth which is pain free, shows no signs of infection and is fully functional. Failure is usually due to the anatomy of the tooth, it may have areas inside it where the bacteria can hide and can’t be cleaned out effectively.
The shape of root canals can vary widely between different teeth in different people. Some teeth may have a single, straight, wide canal that is easily treated. Others may have multiple roots with thin, curved canals that are hard to access.
The general success rate is 80-90% after 10 years when done in a general practice like ours. This increases to 90-95% if performed by a specialist in a referral Practice.
Our fees for root canal treatments:
See below to meet the staff who perform the procedures on a daily basis.
