Root Canal Treatment

The aim of the treatment is to remove dead or inflamed tissue from the nerve canals and to fill this space so bacteria cannot colonise it, causing ongoing infection. The nerve chamber of the tooth is opened and the channels in the roots cleaned and shaped to allow disinfection and filling to the root tips. The difficulty of doing this varies considerably depending on the tooth involved, its past history and the age of the patient. An x-ray picture is taken before treatment starts to assess the number and shapes of the roots.

Treatment is usually carried out under local anaesthetic (as for a normal filling) and should not be uncomfortable. As small instruments and disinfectants are used, a protective sheet of rubber is placed over the tooth to create a secure operating area. This means no debris or water collects in the mouth. There are usually one or two appointments involved with our Endodontist in Cambridge, depending on the particular situation. Following the root canal filling, the tooth is sealed with normal filling material.

Root canal treatment or Endodontic treatment is carried out by our Specialist Endodontists Elisabeth Smallwood and Negin Mosahbei.

Aftercare

The lack of a ‘live’ nerve in the tooth has little effect on its chewing ability as the main function of the nerve is during tooth formation and growth. However, root filled back teeth are more prone to cracking, because they are usually already heavily filled. Therefore it is usually recommended that a crown is placed on the tooth to protect it from fracture.

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This a review to say thank you to Amar and Josie who on Friday worked wonderfully as a team to perform root canal treatment for me. They were calm and supportive and Amar was very clear as to what was to happen and what my choices were. The procedure was 100% successful and I would recommend them highly. Thank you both.

I have had difficult experiences of Root Canal work in the past, so approached the treatment with a little anxiety. I will reassure you that the anxiety was not warranted as Dr Smallwood provided my Root Canal Treatment totally painlessly with a very calm reassuring manner over 2 appointments, so much so I had to focus to stop myself falling asleep!

This practice is wonderfully efficient, organised and friendly. I have had two successful treatments of difficult root canal problems performed by Elisabeth Smallwood, who can operate like magic! Highly recommended.

Meeting Lizzie Smallwood was really life-enhancing, as she was so kind and charming and all root-canal work was so extraordinarily pain-free that I came to … wait for it … look forward to my root-canal work.

Thank you so much for being so very kind and good to me with my fears about the root canal. I could not have been in better hands.