Revitalise severely damaged teeth. Let us save your tooth in a comfortable and pain-free way.
Have you been told you need a root canal, or do you suspect you need one? A root canal treatment is usually performed when a tooth has been badly damaged through decay or trauma. This damage can cause the tooth’s nerve tissue to deteriorate, and at which point, bacteria can build within the root chamber. If left untreated, the bacteria can lead to an infection or abscessed tooth, which can progress to facial swelling, bone loss near the root, and severe pain.
During a root canal treatment, our dentist will carefully remove the damaged or dead nerve and then disinfect and seal the now nerve-free tooth. Your tooth will look and function just like a healthy tooth, even though it does not have a nerve, but it will now last much longer and not cause you any discomfort.
Wrong.
Unfortunately, root canal procedures have a reputation for being extremely painful, due to outdated methods and rushed treatments. However, with the right tools and approach, a skilled dentist can perform these treatments with minimal to no patient discomfort.
At Better Dental, our dentists are highly proficient at performing root canals and pride themselves at achieving both pain-free procedures and highly successful outcomes. We attain these levels of comfort and success by being diligent at every step: from ensuring the anaesthetic has taken full effect, to carefully removing the entire nerve and thoroughly disinfecting the root chamber, and finally sealing the tooth so it looks and functions as a healthy tooth should.
Before performing a root canal treatment at Better Dental, we:
Discuss the exact reasons why we recommend a root canal on your tooth
Explain the process, the risks, and alternatives for your particular tooth
Give you a treatment plan and arrange appointments to suit your needs and budget
During a root canal treatment our dentists:
First ensure you are comfortable and understand what will be happening
Gently administer anaesthetic and verify that it has taken its full and desired effect
Perform tiny “pinhole surgery” to extract the affected nerve and root canal pulp
Thoroughly disinfect the now empty root canal, killing all bacteria
Seal the tiny “pinhole” with special dental material, keeping the canal germ-free
During the whole process, you get to sit back, relax, and listen to your favourite music while our dentist works their magic.
Let us help answer the most common questions you might have.
The number of appointments and the price depends on the number of canals in the tooth and on the complexity of the roots of the particular tooth.
The number of appointments needed can range from 1 to 3 and are typically 60-90 minutes long as our dentists are very thorough at cleaning and disinfecting the root canal.
As for the number of root canals, the front teeth usually have 1 root with 1-2 root canals. The further back the teeth are, the more roots and canals they tend to have. The first big chewing tooth has most commonly 4 canals. Your dentist will always give you a quote prior to the treatment.
Unlike popular opinion, root canal treatments at Better Dental are not painful, and depending on the diagnosis, many procedures don’t actually need local anaesthetic. This means no numb cheek afterwards.
It depends on how much tooth structure is left in the first place and the initial diagnosis. On average, around 15-20 years, but many teeth can last a lot longer!
No, it feels exactly like the other teeth in your mouth, comfortable to chew and nice to look at. The only difference is that you won’t feel the icy sharp sensation of cold ice cream on that tooth if you bite into ice cream, but who wants to feel that sensation anyway?!
At Better Dental, we always try to preserve as much of your tooth as possible. If there is very extensive damage to your tooth, a crown may be required, but in many instances, we can find alternatives that help your tooth and your back pocket. Speak to our dentists to assess your tooth for this.
Yes. This is called retreatment of a root canal. It involves removing the material inside your tooth root, disinfecting the area again and killing off all the bugs, and then filling it up again. It tends to take longer as there are more steps involved, but we can usually save your tooth for many more years.
Our dentists at Better Dental are particularly well trained in performing root canal treatments and retreatments, so the majority of root canal treatments are performed in our practice. However, if your dentist determines that a specialist would be needed to achieve the best result, we have established a great network of fantastic endodontic specialists who will complete your treatment, and you will see us again for the following steps.
Our skilled dentists make it easy and surprisingly comfortable.
Book AppointmentYou might also be interested in these services.
