What you will experience during your root canal therapy: A tooth needs a root canal when infection or injury damages the nerve. At that point there is no other option to save the tooth. You should expect to be very comfortable during this procedure. If you didn’t know better, you might think you were just having a filling. If you’ve been in pain, the severe toothache should be gone as soon as the numbness wears off. Root Canal Therapy treats disorders of the nerve due to decay or trauma to the tooth. First, the unhealthy nerve is removed and the canals are cleaned, enlarged and shaped. Then, the canals are filled with Gutta Percha. Usually a crown is needed to protect the tooth after Root Canal Therapy is completed. Post-op. Instructions: Afterwards, mild soreness is very normal. Avoid chewing on that tooth for several days. If antibiotics are prescribed, take them until they’re gone, even if you feel fine! If a temporary filling is placed, a layer of that filling may wear away. If the filling falls out, contact this office so we can replace it. Avoid chewing on a temporary filling. Avoid chewing your cheek or tongue while you’re numb. Occasionally the toothache persists, or increases after treatment. This is because of infection. If this happens to you, you may need further treatment or medication. Contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with questions or concerns. Alternative treatments: Extraction is the only alternative to root canal therapy. It’s almost always best to save your natural tooth. If you lose a tooth, you must replace it. Replacement with a removable partial denture is a little less expensive, but is less like having your natural tooth back. Replacement with a fixed bridge or implant is more expensive than saving your tooth. If you fail to replace a missing tooth, the surrounding teeth shift, possibly causing further tooth loss and complications. If you choose to do nothing, a severe infection may proceed to cause toothache, swelling, septicemia, or death. Success Rate: Root canal therapy has a high success rate. However, no medical or dental procedure is 100% successful. The treatment may fail, requiring additional procedures or an extraction. Additional fees & procedures: A root canal only takes care of the roots of tooth; it does nothing for the hole in the top of the tooth. After the root canal is finished, you will leave with a temporary filling in your tooth. The tooth will need a build up (big filling) and crown within a month. There is a separate fee for the crown; this should be detailed for you in your treatment plan. If the crown is not completed within a reasonable amount of time, failure is likely. Our diagnostic abilities are limited and a tooth may require additional, unanticipated treatment. If your tooth has extra canals, or requires more than the normal number of visits, there may be additional fees. Occasionally the infection persists after root canal therapy. This may be discovered because of symptoms you experience, or something we see on a x-ray. There are still treatment options at this point: Apicoectomy: a minor surgical procedure that cleans the infection out of the persistent cyst. Hemisection: Removal of one of the roots, leaving the rest of the tooth and crown intact.