Root Canal Therapy

Usually it's because a tooth is suffering from deep decay, or maybe you've had a series of dental procedures, a crack has developed or some trauma has occurred which has caused your tooth's inner pulp to become badly infected or inflamed.

• Thankfully not. A local anaesthetic means getting a root canal is usually no more painful than getting a filling. The whole point of the procedure is to take away the searing pain caused by the infection.

Normally a root canal will take an hour or two for a single tooth, which might need one or two visits depending on just how complicated things are.

Most people are pretty much back to normal the day after, you might feel a bit of aching for a few days, but that can usually be sorted with a bit of over the counter pain relief.

Yes, often you will. The thing is after a root canal, your tooth is basically brittle, and a crown is usually necessary to keep it from cracking apart and to make sure it can still do its job.

With a bit of proper care and the right restoration (like a crown) a tooth that's had a root canal can easily last all your life.