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Treatments · Root canal treatment

Root canal treatment.

Let’s address the reputation head-on: root canal treatment doesn’t cause the legendary pain — it ends it. When the nerve inside a tooth becomes infected, you get the toothache people write folklore about; root canal treatment removes that infection and keeps your tooth, no extraction required. With modern anaesthesia and techniques, most patients’ honest review afterwards is: “…that was it?”

A panoramic dental x-ray

  • Cost

    On our price list

    Front teeth and molars priced separately

  • Visits

    1–2

    Depending on the tooth

  • Comfort

    Local anaesthetic

    Most of it you'll feel nothing

  • Outcome

    Keeps your tooth

    No extraction required

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What patients say about the practice

Is it right for you?

If any of these sound familiar…

Root canal treatment is how we save a tooth whose nerve is dying or infected. These are the signs it may be needed.

  • Throbbing toothache, especially one that wakes you at night
  • Lingering pain after hot or cold (sensitivity that fades quickly is usually something smaller)
  • A tooth that’s tender to bite on, or a gum swelling/pimple beside it
  • A dentist has told you the nerve is dying or infected — and you’d rather keep the tooth than lose it

Why root canal

It ends the pain, and keeps the tooth.

Removing the infected nerve removes the source of the pain — and saving the tooth preserves your bite and avoids the cost cascade of replacing it.

  • The pain stops

    Removing the infected nerve removes the source. Most patients feel dramatically better within a day or two.

  • You keep your tooth

    Nothing artificial matches a natural root. Saving the tooth preserves your bite and avoids the cost cascade of replacing it.

  • Comfortable, honestly

    Full local anaesthetic and a soft protective sheet (rubber dam) around the tooth. Most of the appointment, you’ll feel precisely nothing.

  • Cheaper than the alternative

    An extraction looks cheaper until you price the implant or bridge to fill the gap. Root treatment usually wins the ten-year maths.

Your journey

Diagnose, clean, protect.

The treatment is meticulous rather than dramatic — many patients listen to a podcast through it.

  1. / 03

    Diagnosis

    Examination and X-ray confirm the nerve is the culprit and the tooth is saveable.

  2. / 03

    The treatment

    Under full anaesthetic, the canal system is meticulously cleaned, disinfected and sealed. Long appointment, low drama — many patients listen to podcasts.

  3. / 03

    The armour

    Back teeth usually need a crown afterwards; root-treated teeth are more brittle, and a crown is what keeps them for the long haul.

A dentist chairside with a tablet
Sally Boyes talking with a patient in the treatment room
A dental nurse smiling in the waiting room
Gloved hands, over the shoulder

The honest picture

Straight answers, before you decide.

Root canal treatment is highly successful — but not universally, and we’ll always lay out the alternative honestly.

  • High success, not universal

    Occasionally an infection persists and needs re-treatment or referral to a specialist endodontist, and rarely a tooth proves unsaveable.

  • Molars are the trickiest

    Their complex canal anatomy makes them the hardest work — which is reflected in the fee.

  • We'll compare the routes

    The alternative is extraction, with implant, bridge or denture options for the gap — we’ll always lay out both routes with ten-year costs.

Making it last

Finish the job, keep the tooth.

The crown, when we recommend it, is the second half of the treatment — not an upsell.

  1. Get the crown when advised

    It’s not an upsell — it’s what converts a saved tooth into a kept one.

  2. Brush and keep check-ups

    Normal care, plus a periodic review of the treated tooth.

  3. Report new tenderness

    Any fresh discomfort on that tooth is worth a prompt call.

Good to know

Common questions

The treatment itself shouldn’t — it’s done under full local anaesthetic. Some tenderness for a few days afterwards is normal and manageable.

Stubborn infections sometimes benefit from a disinfecting dressing between visits. It’s thoroughness, not delay.

A root-treated back tooth without a crown has a high fracture risk. The crown is what converts a saved tooth into a kept tooth.

You could — but teeth are like hedgerows: easy to remove, expensive to replace. We’ll show you the comparative costs before you choose.

Take the first step

Save the tooth, end the pain.

In pain now? Call us — we aim to see emergencies the same day. Otherwise book an assessment and we’ll confirm whether root canal treatment can save the tooth, with costs set out before we start.

Front teeth and molars priced separately · see our price list.

Book an assessmentFree e-consultation01629 812 991