Root canal treatment is very successful but in some cases a patient may need a root canal re-treatment if their previous root canal treatment has failed. This depends on the particular case but it may be because the treatment has not healed correctly or an infection is present in the tooth.

The nerve has been removed in a tooth that has had root canal treatment. Even though there is no nerve a dentist will still use anaesthetic to numb the area so that the patient will not feel any pain during the procedure. After the numbness wears off there may be slight discomfort for a few days which pain killers can help with. It is recommended that the patient does not chew on anything hard on that side to prevent the tooth fracturing before the permanent crown is placed.

How successful a root canal re-treatment is, depends on the pervious treatment of the tooth and the reasons of its failure. Usually, the success rate for a re-treated tooth can range from 75% to 88%.

A root canal retreatment usually takes around the same amount of time as the original treatment. A visit is usually between 30 to 60 minutes but can take longer if the case is difficult. If there is a lot of inflammation or the treatment is complex there may be more than one appointment needed to make sure the treatment heals correctly.

The average root canal treatment is 30 to 60 minutes long. More complex cases may take around 90 minutes. A root canal typically requires one or two appointments to complete.

An oral examination is initially carried out with diagnostic testing tools, such as X-rays, imaging and biopsy to isolate the cause of infection. The spread of dental pulp infection is tracked, so that the exact location of infected root canals can be identified. Once a patient consents to the root canal procedure a treatment date is set. The patient’s teeth will first be cleaned and a local anaesthetic is given to numb the treatment area for pain-free root canal treatment.

The oral surgeon then uses a dental drill to gently access the inner tooth pulp. A dental instrument is used to carefully scrape away the infected tooth root tissue. Based on the severity of infection and treatment required, the patient may need time to recover from the initial procedure before receiving further root canal treatment.

Once the infected dental pulp and tooth root tissue are removed, a dental substance known as gutta percha is inserted into the space to secure the tooth within the jawbone and prevent the return of infection. A dental crown may then be placed over the tooth surface to solidify structure and improve dental bite function.