https://www.aae.org/patients/ 

Check out the AAE link-Worth Saving! 

Great informational articles and helpful resources!

Endodontists are dentists who specialize in maintaining teeth through endodontic therapy -- procedures, involving the soft inner tissue of the teeth, called the pulp.  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 to allow diagnosis and treatment of more difficult cases. Endodontists also have their offices set up with specialized equipment and instruments specific to performing endodontic therapy.  For these reasons, many dentists choose to refer their patients to endodontists.

A local anesthetic will be given.  A sheet barrier will be placed around the tooth to isolate it, hence keeping your mouth free of all tooth dust and debris.  Also this will protect your tongue from our instruments.  Depending upon what we find inside your tooth, treatment will take one or more visits of 1 - 3 hours each.  In the course of treatment the pulp is removed from the roots and is replaced with a plastic filling material.  If you were to think of each root as being like a pencil, the root canal will result in the led being replaced with plastic and with minimal removal of the wood.  To get the most complete pulp tissue removal with the least weakening of the tooth, we will utilize a clinical operating microscope.

There are, of course, no guarantees.  Root canal therapy has a very high degree of success, up to 90%.   We will discuss with you the chances of success before any endodontic procedure to help you make an informed decision. 

Upon completion of the root canal a healing filling is placed.  After the healing period your general dentist will evaluate the tooth and the previous fillings or crown and place the ideal final restoration.  With rare exception, the ideal restoration is a crown.  In cases where the tooth already has an existing crown that was not destroyed during the root canal, a filling rather than a new crown may be possible.  We take every effort to preserve existing crowns, but sometimes crown destruction is unavoidable.

Occasionally a tooth that has undergone endodontic treatment fails to heal or pain continues despite therapy. Although rare, sometimes a tooth initially responds to root canal therapy but becomes painful or diseased months or years later. When either of these situations occur, the tooth often can be maintained with a second endodontic treatment.

Once endodontic therapy is completed your tooth should be examined periodically to check for proper healing, usually every 6 - 12 months.  This allows us to make sure the tooth has healed or is healing properly.  In some cases this can be done by your general dentist and in other cases we may need to see you.