Root Canal
Stop the Pain and Keep the Tooth.
A root canal is an effective way to save a tooth that has become infected or deeply inflamed on the inside. Within each tooth is soft tissue called pulp, which contains nerves and blood supply. When this area is damaged, your dentist carefully removes the infection, thoroughly cleans and disinfects the space, and seals the tooth to protect it.
Modern techniques make the procedure comfortable and efficient, often no more uncomfortable than a routine filling, while helping relieve pain and restore your natural smile.
Root canals have a worse reputation than they deserve. The pain people associate with the procedure is almost always the pain that brought them in — the infection itself. At our Wexford, PA office, the appointment is the part that makes it stop.
Root Canal Treatment at EZ Dental Studio
Once bacteria reach the nerve inside a tooth, the body cannot clear the infection on its own. Antibiotics may quiet it temporarily, but the tooth has only two real outcomes from that point: treat the inside of it, or lose it.
A root canal is the option that keeps your own tooth in place — your own root, your own bite, your own alignment. Nothing replaces a natural tooth quite as well as the natural tooth, which is why we recommend saving one whenever it can reasonably be saved.
Signs You May Need a Root Canal
Lingering pain after hot or cold, pain when biting down, a pimple on the gum, swelling in the face or jaw, or a tooth that has darkened. Pain that wakes you at night is the classic one — and the one people wait longest on.
Root Canal Therapy
The infected pulp is removed, the canals are cleaned, shaped, and disinfected, then sealed so bacteria cannot re-enter. Digital imaging lets us see the canal anatomy before we begin rather than discovering it halfway through.
The Restoration Afterward
A treated back tooth becomes brittle and needs full coverage to survive normal chewing. In most cases that means a crown, placed a few weeks later — the step that decides whether the tooth lasts two years or twenty.
When Is a Root Canal Used Instead of a Filling?
Fillings:
- Fillings are used for minor damage.
- Small to moderate cavities
- Decay that has not reached the nerve (pulp)
- Tooth structure is still strong
Root Canal:
- Deep decay reaching the nerve
- Infection or abscess
- Severe tooth pain or sensitivity
- Cracked tooth affecting the pulp
- Swelling or darkening of the tooth
The line between the two is the nerve. X-rays and testing tell us which side of it your tooth is on — and we would far rather place a filling if a filling will hold.
What Is The Treatment Process
Treating an infected tooth typically involves:
- Examination and digital X-rays to confirm the nerve is involved
- Local anesthetic, with time given to make sure the tooth is fully numb
- A small opening made in the tooth to reach the canals
- Removal of the infected pulp, then cleaning, shaping, and disinfecting each canal
- Sealing the canals and closing the tooth with a temporary or permanent filling
- A crown appointment a few weeks later to protect the tooth long term
Most teeth are completed in one visit of roughly sixty to ninety minutes. Molars have more canals and occasionally need a second appointment — we will tell you which to expect before we start, not partway through.
Comfortable From Start to Finish
Modern root canal procedures are designed with your comfort in mind, using advanced techniques and precise technology to make the experience gentle and efficient. With effective local anesthesia and improved tools, most patients report little to no pain during treatment — often comparing it to getting a routine filling.
Root canals play an essential role in restoring tooth health and eliminating the persistent pain caused by infection. This helps you avoid extraction, maintain proper function, and protect your overall oral health.
Badly infected teeth are sometimes harder to numb, and we plan for that rather than pushing ahead and hoping. If anxiety about this appointment is what has kept you from booking it, EZ Dental Studio offers nitrous oxide and oral sedation so you can get it behind you — learn more about sedation dentistry.
Benefits of a Root Canal
- Saves your natural tooth (avoids extraction)
- Eliminates pain and infection
- Restores normal chewing and function
- Prevents spread of infection to surrounding teeth or bone
- Cost-effective long-term compared to extraction + replacement
- Maintains your natural smile and alignment
Why Choose EZ Dental Studio?
Not every tooth should be saved, and we will say so when that is the case. When a tooth is cracked below the gum line or has too little structure left to restore, a root canal only delays the inevitable — and you deserve to hear that before you pay for one.
Dr. Erich Zimmermann, DDS, FICOI, plans each case with digital imaging and treats the tooth himself, from diagnosis through the final crown. Because we are a small practice, you are not referred out mid-treatment and then handed back — the same dentist sees it through.
And when a tooth genuinely cannot be saved, we walk you through the alternatives, including dental implants, before anything is removed.
Root Canals: Common Questions
Does a root canal hurt?
The procedure itself should not. With the tooth properly numb, most patients describe it as similar to having a filling done — pressure and vibration, but not pain. The severe pain associated with root canals is the infection beforehand, and treatment is what ends it.
How many visits will it take, and how long is each one?
Most teeth are finished in a single visit of about an hour to ninety minutes. Molars, with three or four canals, sometimes need two. The crown is a separate appointment a few weeks later once the tooth has settled.
My tooth doesn’t hurt — why do I need a root canal?
A nerve that has died stops sending pain signals, but the infection at the root tip keeps going and shows up on an X-ray as a dark shadow in the bone. A painless infected tooth is not a healed one; it is a quiet one, and it will eventually flare up.
Do I always need a crown afterward?
Back teeth, almost always — they take the full force of chewing and a treated tooth is far more likely to fracture without full coverage. Front teeth with minimal damage can sometimes be restored with a filling instead. Skipping a recommended crown is the most common reason a root-canaled tooth is lost later.
How long will the tooth last?
Properly treated and properly restored, many root-canaled teeth last decades, and often for life. The two things that shorten that are delaying the crown and new decay at the margins — both preventable with regular check-ups.
What happens if I don’t treat it?
The infection does not resolve on its own. It spreads into the surrounding bone, can form an abscess, and in serious cases causes facial swelling that becomes a medical emergency. The tooth is eventually lost anyway, but with more damage and more cost than if it had been treated.
Should I just have the tooth pulled and get an implant instead?
Sometimes that is the better plan, and we will tell you when it is. But an extraction is not a shortcut — the space still has to be filled by an implant or a bridge, which costs more, takes longer, and never quite matches the tooth you already have. Saving a restorable tooth is usually the more conservative and less expensive path.
Can I eat and go back to work afterward?
Yes, most patients go straight back to their day. Wait until the numbness wears off before eating, and avoid chewing hard food on that side until the permanent restoration is placed. If you had oral sedation, you will need a driver and the rest of the day off.
Why does the tooth ache for a few days after treatment?
The ligament around the root is inflamed from the infection and from the procedure, and it takes several days to calm down. Mild soreness when biting is normal and usually managed with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories. Increasing pain or swelling after the third day is not normal — call us.
Does insurance cover a root canal, and how much does it cost?
Root canals are typically covered as a basic or major service, often at fifty to eighty percent depending on the plan, with the crown billed separately. Cost varies with which tooth is involved — a molar is more complex than a front tooth. You will receive a written estimate with your specific benefits applied before treatment begins.
In Pain? We’ll Get You Seen Quickly.
Tooth pain does not improve by waiting, and infections get harder to treat the longer they run. Call EZ Dental Studio in Wexford and we will find you an appointment — often the same day.
10317 Perry Hwy, Wexford, PA 15090