A root canal has a worse reputation than it deserves. The pain people associate with it is the pain of the infection that made it necessary — the treatment is what stops that pain.
We remove the infected pulp from inside the tooth, clean and disinfect the canals, and seal them. A crown or filling then restores the tooth so it can do its job again. The tooth stays in your mouth, which is nearly always better than replacing it.
If a tooth is throbbing, waking you at night, or sensitive to heat long after the heat has gone, call us. Infections do not resolve on their own and they get more expensive the longer they run.
What it costs
$700–$2,000 for the treatment, plus a crown afterwards
| Front tooth — one canal, simplest anatomy | $700–$1,200 |
|---|---|
| Premolar | $800–$1,500 |
| Molar — three or four canals, most technical | $1,000–$2,000 |
| Crown afterwards, which most back teeth need | $1,000–$2,000 |
These are typical United States ranges for 2026, gathered from published fee surveys — they are not a quote from this practice. What you actually pay depends on your own mouth and your own plan. You get that figure in writing after an exam, before anything is scheduled.
What moves the number:
- Which tooth it is. A front tooth has one canal; a molar can have four, curved, and takes far longer.
- Whether the tooth has been root treated before. Retreatment means undoing someone else's work first and costs more than a first attempt.
- Whether the tooth needs a crown afterwards. Back teeth almost always do — a root-treated molar without one has a real chance of splitting.
- Most dental plans cover 50–80% of root canal treatment once the deductible is met, and the crown is usually billed under a separate category.
How many visits
Often one. Straightforward front teeth and premolars are regularly done and finished in a single appointment of sixty to ninety minutes.
Molars, badly infected teeth and retreatments are more likely to be split over two visits, with a medicated dressing sealed inside the tooth in between. The crown is a separate appointment after that, once the tooth has settled.
Does a root canal hurt?
This is the reputation the procedure cannot shake, and it is backwards. The pain people remember is the abscess that sent them to the dentist. The root canal is what stops it.
The tooth is numbed properly before anything begins — if you can feel anything sharp, we stop and add more, no matter how far in we are. Afterwards the tooth is usually tender to bite on for two or three days, the way a bruise is tender, and over-the-counter painkillers handle it.
Root canal or just pull it?
It is a fair question and the honest answer involves arithmetic rather than sentiment.
An extraction costs $150–$450 today. That is genuinely cheaper — right up until you want something back in the gap, at which point an implant is $3,000–$6,000 and a bridge involves cutting down the two healthy teeth on either side. Leave the gap and the neighbouring teeth tip into it over the following years and the opposing tooth drifts down, which is a slower and more expensive problem.
Root canal plus crown on a tooth that is otherwise sound is almost always the cheaper decision over ten years. There are teeth that genuinely cannot be saved — cracked below the gum, too little structure left to build on — and when we see one of those we say so. What we will not do is pull a tooth that had years left in it because that was the quicker appointment.
Common questions
Is a root canal painful?
The procedure itself is done under anesthetic and feels much like having a filling. The relief afterwards is the part patients remember.
How many visits does it take?
Often one, sometimes two, plus a visit for the crown.
Questions about root canal therapy?
Call the office and ask. We'd rather talk it through than have you guess from a website.