Root Canal Therapy

Root Canal treatment is required when the nerve of the tooth becomes infected by trauma, deep decay, cracks, or repeated dental procedures on the same tooth. The most typical reason for needing a root canal is when an abscess occurs around the tooth, and or, if symptoms present as though the nerve is infected.

Root canal treatment involves removing the infected nerve, disinfecting, sterilising and placing filling material into the roots of the tooth where the nerves once lived. The benefits of having a root canal is that the tooth itself is preserved, leading to normal function and bite, and avoiding the other option of an extraction and possible surgery.

At St Ives Smiles, we undertake all diagnostic tests before determining if your tooth requires a root canal. During his time in Melbourne, Dr Jeremy Hockey was a clinical demonstrator at University of Melbourne in the Endodontic Clinic (Root Canal Clinic), thus has skills and interest in this procedure. In some cases, if the roots are too difficult to access, patients will be referred to a root canal specialist.