A root canal is one of the most common dental procedures performed – over 15 million every year. This simple treatment can save
your natural teeth and prevent the need of dental implants or bridges.

At the center of your tooth is pulp. Pulp is a collection of blood vessels that helps to build the surrounding tooth. Infection of the
pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep decay, cracks and chips, or repeated dental procedures. Symptoms of the
infection can be identified as visible injury or swelling of the tooth, sensitivity to temperature or pain in the tooth and gums.

If you experience any of these symptoms, your dentist will most likely recommend non-surgical treatment to eliminate the
diseased pulp. This injured pulp is removed and the root canal system is thoroughly cleaned and sealed. This therapy usually
involves local anesthesia and may be completed in one or more visits depending on the treatment required. Success for this type
of treatment occurs in about 90% of cases. If your tooth is not amenable to endodontic treatment or the chance of success is
unfavorable, you will be informed at the time of consultation or when a complication becomes evident during or after treatment.
We use local anesthesia to eliminate discomfort. In addition, we will provide oral conscious sedation if indicated.

When your root canal therapy has been completed, a record of your treatment will be sent to your general dentist. You should
contact their office for a follow-up restoration as soon as possible after completion of treatment at our office. Your general dentist
will decide what type of restoration is necessary to protect your tooth. It is rare for endodontic patients to experience complications
after routine endodontic treatment or microsurgery. If a problem does occur, however, we are available at all times to respond.

With the appropriate care, your teeth that have had endodontic treatment will last as long as other natural teeth. Yet, a tooth that
has received treatment may fail to heal or pain may continue to exist. Sometimes, the pain may occur months or years after treatment.
If so, Endodontic Retreatment may be needed.

Improper healing may be caused by:
Curved or narrow canals that were not treated during the initial treatment.
-Complicated canals that went undetected during the initial treatment.
-The crown or restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following the procedure.
-The crown or restoration did not prevent saliva from contaminating the inside of the tooth.

In some cases, new problems can influence a tooth that was successfully treated:
-New decay can expose root canal filling material, causing infection.
-A cracked or loose filling or crown can expose the tooth to new infection.
Once retreatment has been selected as a solution to your problem, we will reopen your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material.
This restorative material will be removed to enable access to the root canal. We will clean your canals and carefully examine the inside of the problematic tooth.
Once cleaned, we will fill and seal the canals and place a temporary or permanent filling in the tooth.

At this point, you will need to return to your general dentist as soon as possible in order to have a new crown or restoration placed on
the tooth to restore full functionality

Occasionally, a nonsurgical root canal procedure alone cannot save your tooth and we will recommend surgery.

Surgery may be used in diagnosis. If you have persistent symptoms but no problems appear on your x-ray, your tooth may have a tiny fracture
or canal that could not be detected during nonsurgical treatment.

Surgery may also be needed to remove calcium deposits in root canals, or to treat damaged root surfaces or the surrounding bone of the tooth.
Endodontists use advanced technologies like digital imaging and operating microscopes to perform surgeries quickly, comfortably and successfully.

There are many surgical procedures that can be performed to save a tooth. The most common is called an apicoectomy, or root-end resection,
which is occasionally needed when inflammation or infection persists in the bony area around the end of your tooth after a root canal procedure.
In this microsurgical procedure, the endodontist opens the gum tissue near the tooth to see the underlying bone and to remove any inflamed or
infected tissue. The very end of the root is also removed. A small filling may be placed to seal the end of the root canal and few stitches or sutures
are placed to help the tissue heal. Over a period of months, the bone heals around the end of the root. Local anesthetics make the procedure comfortable,
and most patients return to their normal activities the next day. Postsurgical discomfort is generally mild.

Other types of surgeries include dividing a tooth in half (Hemisection), repairing an injured root (Surgical repair of perforation defects,
invasive cervical resorption), or removing one or more roots (Root amputation).

In certain cases, a procedure called intentional replantation may be performed. In this procedure, a tooth is extracted, treated with an endodontic
procedure while it is out of the mouth, and then replaced in its socket. We will be happy to discuss the specific type of surgery your tooth requires
in detail during your initial visit to our office.