In the past, a badly infected, painful tooth, was doomed to be extracted. Today majority of these teeth can be salvaged by a special dental procedure called root canal therapy.

A root canal treatment is needed when a tooth's nerve and associated blood vessels are irreversibly damaged either by trauma to the tooth or because of deep cavity. This results in infection that may lead to an abscess at the base of the tooth.

• Throbbing pain
• Swelling in the jaw
• Pain on consuming hot or cold foods
• Teeth that are severely worn out

• Your treatment may take one or more visits where the nerve of the offending tooth is removed and the root canal is subsequently filled
• Procedure is done under local anaesthesia
• Your dentist may take X-rays to ensure that the full length of the root canal is treated
• After the root canal, a core filling is done and the tooth may subsequently be protected with a cap or a crown