Root Canal Therapy

Sometimes a tooth can be so badly broken down it may need Root Canal Therapy.  Due to causes such as large decay, cracked teeth, or necessity to adequately retain a restoration, root canal therapy may be needed to save a tooth.  For back teeth (molars and bicuspids) it is always necessary to place a crown after these teeth have undergone root canal therapy because these teeth receive the majority of your bite force.  A crown acts to not only protect your investment in the root canal but distributes the force of your bite evenly over your back teeth to prevent fracture.  On front teeth (incisors and canines) it may not be necessary to place a crown on these teeth because these teeth do not receive as much bite force as the back teeth.  Sometimes an old root canal done several years ago on a tooth may fail and re-treatment of the root canal maybe warranted.