Have a bad reputation. Root canal is description of the space inside the tooth, where the nerve and the blood supply for your tooth is. The procedure is called Root Canal Treatment. There are 2 reasons for getting root canal treatment. You may have a tooth-ache already and then the only way to save the tooth is to perform the root canal treatment. The other reason is less obvious. Dentists can see changes on the x-ray in the root or in the jaw-bone around the tooth, but your tooth doesn't hurt. That is usually a situation when your tooth is broken or decayed and you may think that filling will be all what your need. Unfortunately when the nerve dies, the inside of the tooth starts to produce small amount of gas. If Your tooth is repaired without performing a root canal treatment, then the gas starts creating pressure inside of the tooth and your jaw-bone resulting in bad pain, sometimes swelling and then the treatment gets more complicated.
Do Root canals work?
Yes, they do work for everybody. Unfortunately they do not work in 100% of cases. There are some people who have variation in anatomy and the way how the tooth grew. In that case the treatment may be challenging, sometimes impossible. In general they are 60-96% successful. Less successful for teeth which are badly broken and have already changes in the jaw-bone, more successful when you have a tooth-ache and need a root canal treatment for that reason. You may also need to have your root canal treatment re-done on a tooth which already had a root canal treatment done, but for whatever reason it was unsuccessfull. Root canal treatment is one of the most challenging procedures in dentistry and as with any professions, some dentists are more experienced in this field than others.
We at Mead Square Smiles will take every measure to assure your comfort before, during and after the procedure. There are thing which we can do for you to minimize the discomfort and pain before the procedure or during the procedure.
The treatment usually takes about an hour and is done during one visit. The times when you had to come to the dentist 2-4 times are long gone. Thanks to the newest techniques, nickel-titanium instruments and precise instrumentation I am able to finish your root canal in many cases within 60 minutes. During the procedure you are comfortable, without any pain.
Finishing the root-canal treatment will take care of the pain and discomfort in the tooth, but will NOT be sufficient for chewing safely on the tooth again. If your root canal treatment was performed on one of your back teeth, you will need to have a crown (a cap) put on the tooth in addition to filling the space with a special build-up material. If the treatment was performed on your front tooth, the crown may not be necessary, but white composite post into the tooth and filling may be indicated.
The main reason for failure of the root canal treatment is not that "the root canal doesn't work" but that the tooth has not been properly restored immediately after the treatment (within 2 weeks). The back tooth MUST have crown placed on or (if the root canal treatment is performed after the crown is placed) final filling within a couple of days, otherwise there is high risk, that the tooth will get re-infected and the whole procedure must be repeated. Research shows, that the final filling or at least intermediate restoration must be placed on the tooth within 2 weeks otherwise there is bacteria found in the tooth again without a possiblity to cure it with antibiotics.

Ask us about comfortable, fast, pain-free root canal treatment. You will be surprised how uneventful and easy it is.