Root Canal Therapy (RCT) is required when a tooth is damaged due to decay, infection, or trauma. An infected or inflamed pulp (nerve) can be caused by:

• Deep filling
• Extensive decay
• Trauma
• Cracked tooth
• Broken tooth/filling
• Repeated dental work to the same tooth

An infected tooth will be tender to touch, sensitive to fluctuation of temperatures, and will look discoloured. This tooth will probably cause you pain and if it is untreated, it can lead to tooth loss.

Root Canal Therapy works by removing the infected nerve and replacing it with a root canal filling material after the infection is cleared. A crown or a fully cusp capped restoration (a cusp is a hard protrusion on a tooth that is the first point of contact when biting) will be placed after the root canal therapy to protect the tooth. When you get root canal therapy, you will usually experience discomfort and pain and sometimes swelling of the gum/face of the affected area. RCT can take up to four visits at the surgery every 2-3 weeks, however, the pain and discomfort usually subside after the first treatment

Advantages of RCT include:

• The tooth can be kept and functional in the mouth (your own tooth functions better than an artificial one)
• It is usually cheaper to keep the tooth than to replace the missing one with a bridge or an implant
• keeping a tooth will prevent extraction where it can cause nearby teeth to move out of their normal position, altering the bite and efficiency of chewing

Disadvantages of RCT include:

• The possibility of RCT failing, which can be due to factors such as missed canal or reinfection due to leaking or broken fillings
• Retreatment could be required if the initial RCT failed which could result in extra fees
• Some can experience continual pain in the surrounding area for a longer period of time than normal. In this case pain killers are recommended

Our dentists will assess each case individually to ensure the infected tooth is suitable for RCT