Root canal treatment is needed when a hole or crack becomes so deep that it reaches the centre of the tooth where the nerve sits. This is called the pulp. The pain when decay reaches the nerve is excruciating as the tooth is ‘dying’. Occasionally, the pain in the tooth subsides and a new pain in the bone under the tooth begins. This is called an abscess and means the tooth is close to ‘dead’. Both dead and dying teeth can have serious impacts upon your health, as the bacteria can spread into your bloodstream. These teeth need to be treated by removing the infected tissue from the middle of the tooth and filling it. There is often minimal discomfort and it is usually no worse than having a filling.

What is Root Canal Treatment?

Root canal treatment is the cleaning and filling of a tooth’s root canal system. This is needed when bacteria from your mouth gets into the middle of the tooth (where the delicate nerve sits) via a large hole or crack in the tooth. Sometimes a tooth can ‘die’ simply because it has been knocked in the past. These infections are extremely painful and will usually impact upon your day to day activities.

Why is Root Canal Treatment needed?

Root canal treatment is needed to treat an infection that has reached the pulp or nerve of a tooth. Upon completion of root canal treatment, the pain and infection will have cleared leaving a sound, functional tooth. Many people shudder at the thought of root canal treatment. However, root canal treatment carried out carefully and methodically can be a pain-free procedure and has a high success rate of over 90%.

How is Root Canal Treatment performed?

Root canal is very similar to filling a tooth, except the filling goes a lot deeper into the fine little passages of the tooth. Because of the complexities of root canal treatment, the procedure can take a little longer than a filling, and sometimes needs to be spread over a few different appointments to allow time for the infection to clear. The tooth needing root canal treatment is first cleaned with special instruments and liquids to remove the offending bacteria and ‘dead’ tissue from the inside of the tooth. A special rubber protective cover is placed over your mouth. Patients tend to find these quite comfortable as they don’t have to worry about holding their mouth open or worry about water going down their throat. In fact, may people actually fall asleep during root canal treatment.

Once the tooth is thoroughly cleaned, it is filled carefully using a natural rubber product called gutta percha. This seals the now clean canals of the tooth and prevents bacteria from re-entering the tooth.

Root filled teeth no longer have a blood supply and become quite brittle. A crown often needs to sit on tooth of the tooth to prevent it from breaking in the future. Crowns, also known as caps, cover the entire tooth surface and allow the tooth to be used normally without risk of breaking.

Does Root Canal Treatment hurt?

Pain-free dentistry should be the norm and not the exception. Typically, root canal treatment is no more uncomfortable than having a filling placed. In saying that, it does take longer. People often think of pain when they hear about root canal treatment as they remember the immense pain preceding the operation, not from the operation itself.

How much does Root Canal Treatment cost?

To help you keep your teeth for longer, our root canal treatment fees have been kept as low as possible to make it more affordable. At Northside Dental Solutions, root canal treatment is $790 on a front tooth, $990 on a premolar tooth and $1490 on a back tooth. We want to make it simpler for you by ignoring the number of canals in a tooth when charging our patients. A tooth is a tooth. If a tooth is difficult to treat, it won’t cost you more. We also offer interest-free payment plans to help you budget for your treatment.