Dental Implants vs Root Canal Treatment

A lot of people will have to decide to have either a root canal treatment, or a dental implant.

These are both very different treatments, but lets look at each of them, and you can choose what you think the best thing to do is.

Are you in pain?

This may sound like a silly question, but the reason a lot of people may need root canal treatment is because they are getting pain from that tooth, and its quite bad (i.e. its affecting sleep).

When you are in pain, then you will me more inclined to think about the treatment that will get you out of pain, and make short term decisions, rather than long term solutions. So the first thing is to either have antibiotics, or something called an extirpation, this will buy you time, and let you make a better decision.

The problem is that the nerve inside the tooth has died – this is then infected- causing pain (or at least a black spot on an x ray!)

The goal (for most people) is to have a reliable tooth that they don’t need to think about.

From a dental health point of view, its usually better to keep your teeth for as long as possible. This is because when you lose a tooth, not only do you lose the tooth, but there are a lot of bone related changes that happen.

You also reduce treatment options (more on this later)

Lets say that your tooth has some structure to it (I mean, its not broken to the gum level). This means that you could likely have a root canal treatment, and rebuild the tooth (maybe with a crown).

This treatment is tried and tested, and it works incredibly well, in the vast number of cases.

In the right hands, having a root treatment and a crown on the tooth will add decades to the life of the tooth – and you have the option for dental implant treatment down the line.

But you may think that if you remove the tooth and have an implant, then you don’t need to worry about that tooth, because you have a fresh one in its place.

About Dental Implants

This is where dental implants come in.

They are typically a bit more expensive than having root treatment and a crown – and you may think that because its more expensive, that it may be better.

What we need to understand is that its a different treatment, for a different solution.

Dental implants are tooth replacements, when a tooth cannot be saved, or its already missing.

As with any treatment every, there is a complication risk – they may not work, or may not last as long as you expect. (but they do work in the vast number of situations).

What happens when things fail?

This is an important question. If a root treated tooth fails, then your options are to re-do the root treatment (if possible) or remove the tooth and have an implant.

If an implant fails, then it will often take the bone around it (much more than removal of the original tooth). This creates a problem where you may need to have bone grafting first, then an implant (this is long winded and expensive).

This is the main reason that I will recommend a root treatment, if its a viable option.

I personally do not do root canal treatments, I specialise more in dental implants, but I have to think: What is in the best interest of my patient, not just today, but in the long term. 

If a tooth has been root filled, and failed, and we have to look at dental implants, then its often best to place the dental implant at the same time as removing the bad tooth.

This is to minimise the number of surgical appointments and also to if the dental implant can be placed at the same time as the tooth removal, its often easier to get a natural looking tooth on the dental implant.