Endodontists are dentists who specialize in maintaining teeth through endodontic therapy procedures, involving the soft inner tissue of the teeth, called the pulp.  The word "endodontic" comes from "endo" meaning inside and "odont" meaning tooth.  Like many medical terms, it's Greek.  All dentists are trained in diagnosis and endodontic therapy, however, some teeth can be especially difficult to diagnose and treat.  That’s why you may have been referred to an endodontic specialist.

In addition to dental school, endodontists receive two or more years of advanced education in this kind of treatment. They study root canal techniques and procedures in greater depth, for diagnosis and treatment of more difficult cases. For this reason, many dentists choose to refer their patients to endodontists.

A local anesthetic will be given.  A sheet of latex called the "rubber dam" (we've got nonlatex ones too) will be placed around the tooth to isolate it, hence keeping it clean and dry during treatment.  The treatment consists of three or four basic steps, but the number of visits will depend on your particular case.  Some treatments take 2 visits but many are just a single visit.  Occasionally 3 appointments are needed.

In any case, it depends on the degree of infection/inflammation and degree of treatment difficulty.  To me, it's more important to do it the very best we can then to meet a specific time criteria.  Let's look at the basic steps for nonsurgical endodontic therapy.

There are, of course, no guarantees.  Root canal or endodontic therapy has a very high degree of success, up to 90%.  Teeth which can be treated near ideal have a success rate up to ninety percent!  We will discuss with you the chances of success before any endodontic procedure to help you make an informed decision.  If a root canal or endodontic therapy is unsuccessful or fails you still have options.

Oral pain such as toothaches or cracked / fractured teeth can often be difficult to pinpoint.  Because of the vast network of nerves in the mouth, the pain of a damaged or diseased tooth often is felt in another tooth and/or in the head, neck, or ear. An endodontist is a specialist in diagnosing and treating this type of pain.

 Also known as root end surgery, is an endodontic surgery procedure involving the surgical removal (ectomy) of the tip of a tooth root (apex), and the sealing of the root canal. The purpose of an apicoectomy procedure is to fight an infection in the tissues surrounding the tip of the root and save the tooth from extraction. An apicoectomy is not the same as a root resection or as a hemisection. In a root resection, an entire root is removed, rather than just the tip. Apicoectomy is the most common type of root canal surgery.

Retreatment is necessary when bacteria have re-entered the tooth. This is usually due to decay or untreated canal areas. The patient may experience swelling or pain in chewing.Sometimes a patient may have no symptoms, but is referred to us by their family dentist because an x-ray shows that there is a problem with a tooth that has previously undergone root canal therapy. 

Once endodontic therapy is completed your tooth should be examined periodically, usually every 6 - 12 months.  This allows us to make sure the tooth has healed or is healing properly.  You will be sent a notice in the mail when we feel it is appropriate to reevaluate the area.  Since an abscess may take 2 years to heal, our office will reevaluate the tooth for at least 2 years.