Two ways to deal with a damaged tooth
When the nerve inside a tooth is infected or badly inflamed, the tooth cannot simply be left as it is. There are two ways forward: keep the tooth and treat the inside of it, or take it out.
A root canal keeps the tooth. The infected tissue inside the tooth is removed, and the canals are cleaned and sealed, usually over one to two visits. Back teeth typically get a crown afterward for long-term strength, because a treated back tooth takes the full force of chewing.
An extraction removes the tooth. It ends the problem in that tooth, and it leaves a gap. A pulled tooth eventually needs replacing, whether with an implant, a bridge or another option, so an extraction is usually the first step of a plan rather than the whole of one.
What decides it
There is no rule that settles it from the outside. The decision comes from what the exam and X-rays show, and the questions are practical ones:
- How much sound tooth is left. A tooth needs enough healthy structure to hold a filling or crown after treatment.
- Whether it can be restored. Some cracks and breaks can be repaired; others run too deep for the tooth to be kept.
- The bone and gum around it. A tooth is only as stable as what holds it.
- The tooth's job. A back tooth that carries much of your chewing and a tooth that is rarely under load are weighed differently.
- What you want. Once the options are clear, the choice is yours.
Keeping your natural tooth is usually better long-term. Sometimes extraction is the right call. Either way, the answer should come from an exam, not a guess.
How it works at In Line
It starts with an exam. Dr. Chon examines the tooth and takes the X-rays needed to diagnose it. Getting you out of pain comes first. Then he explains both options in plain words, what each involves and what comes after it. If the tooth needs a root canal, he treats it here when the tooth suits it or refers you to an endodontist for the root canal itself; an extraction can be done here. You know which before any treatment is planned.
Both procedures are done under local anesthetic. If dental visits make you anxious, nitrous oxide is available; mention it when you book and it is arranged before the day.
Dr. Chon sees patients on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for a genuine emergency he comes in on other days, so a tooth that cannot wait can be seen the same day. The guide to what to do in a dental emergency covers the first steps, and the emergency care page has how to reach the office.
What it costs
Neither a root canal nor an extraction has a single published price, because it depends on the tooth: a front tooth usually has one canal; a molar has several. The exam and X-rays are the same $95 flat new-patient visit, or $0 out of pocket with an active PPO plan, and they give you a diagnosis. The root canal is done here when the tooth suits it, otherwise by the endodontist Dr. Chon refers you to — he tells you which at the same visit — and anything treated here, a root canal or an extraction, gets an itemized written price before it starts.
If a tooth has to come out and you want it replaced with an implant, that price is published: $1,990 per implant — the implant, abutment and crown — when Dr. Chon's exam and 3D scan confirm you're a candidate, and Dr. Chon places and restores implants himself, with no referral out. If your case needs anything more, you get an itemized written price at your free consultation before anything begins. The guide to what a dental implant costs explains what the price includes and how your own case is confirmed. The crowns and bridges page covers the crown that usually follows a root canal on a back tooth, and the bridge as another way to fill a gap.
If you have dental insurance, In Line is in-network with eight major PPO carriers (listed on the insurance page), and other PPO plans are welcome out-of-network: you pay at the visit, In Line files your claim the same day, and your insurer reimburses you, with an estimate beforehand. See the insurance page. Financing is available on approved credit through CareCredit, Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, Sunbit, LendingClub and Proceed Finance; see how financing works.
Signs a tooth needs looking at
A toothache that keeps you up at night, sensitivity to hot or cold that lingers after the trigger is gone, pain when biting, a tooth turning gray, or swelling or a bump on the gum near a tooth. Only an exam and X-ray confirm what is going on. The root canals page explains the warning signs and the procedure in more detail.