Root canal treatment is a very common form of endodontic treatment, however due to the common problem of endodontic treatment failure a lot of patients are hesitant about going ahead with root canal treatment.

How common is root canal treatment failure?

With first time root canal treatment success rates are approximately between 80% to 90%. Though for patients who need root canal re-treatment then the success rates are halved. Like all treatments there is no guaranteed success.

Root canal treatment is vital if the tooth is to be preserved, if root canal treatment can’t be carried out then the tooth will have to be extracted. The treatment involves removing the infected dental pulp and tissues and many patients believe this will cause more harm to the tooth. However, if the affected tooth is not treated the pain can become worse and the infection will continue to spread. The removal of the infected tissues and dental pulp is actually a way to save the tooth from having to be extracted.

The overall aim of endodontic treatment is to preserve the tooth, a professional endodontist and dentist will only carry out the treatment after a thorough examination. When they have diagnosed the problem and root canal treatment is needed the sooner the procedure is carried out the higher the chances that the tooth can be saved. Whether a patient will require a dental crown after the treatment will depend on how damaged the tooth is. Dental crowns costs between 3,000 RMB to 4,000 RMB.