Principal Dentist
Dr. Charlotte Hing
BDS (PIDC) · PGDip Endodontics (IMU)
Carries out root canal treatment under magnification, including the cases where a canal was missed the first time and the tooth has never fully settled.
Why a tooth needs it
What root canal treatment actually does.
Inside every tooth is a soft core of nerve and blood vessels, running from a chamber in the crown down through narrow canals in each root. Deep decay, a crack, repeated fillings or a knock to the tooth can let bacteria reach that core. Once they do, the tissue cannot recover on its own.
Root canal treatment removes the infected contents, disinfects and shapes the canals, then seals them so bacteria cannot re-enter. The tooth stays where it is, held by its own root, and continues to function.
The signs are not always dramatic. Lingering pain after something hot or cold, an ache on biting, a tooth that has darkened, a gum boil that comes and goes, or swelling around the jaw all warrant an examination. Some infected teeth stop hurting entirely, which is not the same as getting better.
Left untreated, the infection spreads through the root tip into the surrounding bone. At that stage the realistic options narrow to treatment under more difficult conditions, or removing the tooth and later replacing it with an implant or a bridge.
Keeping a natural tooth is almost always simpler and less costly over a lifetime than replacing it.
