Endodontists are skilled specialists in finding the cause of oral and facial pain that has been difficult to diagnosis. Click the links below to learn more about some common dental symptoms.

• Tooth Pain

If you’re experiencing tooth pain, whether sharp and throbbing or dull and achy, it can be difficult to bite and chew, concentrate, get through the day, even sleep at night, no matter what over-the-counter medication you take for some relief.

• Cracked Teeth

Whether your tooth cracks from an injury or general wear and tear, you can experience a variety of symptoms ranging from erratic pain when you chew your food to sudden pain when your tooth is exposed to very hot or cold temperatures. In many cases, the pain may come and go and your dentist may have difficulty locating the tooth causing the discomfort. If you experience these symptoms or suspect a cracked tooth, it’s best to see an endodontist as soon as possible.

Endodontists specialize in saving cracked teeth and will cater treatment to the type, location, and extent of the crack. The sooner your tooth is treated, the better the outcome. Once treated, most cracked teeth continue to function as they should, for many years of pain-free biting and chewing.

• Abscessed Teeth

If your mouth or jaw is aching, you experience pain while chewing or you have swollen gums, you may have an abscessed tooth. These are just a few of the symptoms that can occur when the pulp (the soft tissue inside the root canal of a tooth) dies, becomes inflamed and goes untreated. The resulting infection in or around the root of the tooth may or may not be painful but any ongoing symptoms should be tended by an endodontist who specializes in treating infected teeth and pulp.

An endodontist will typically treat your abscess with a root canal procedure or endodontic surgery. This involves removing the bacteria from the empty canals within your tooth, cleaning, shaping and filing the root canals, and sealing the empty space. Then, after some time to be certain the treatment was successful, you’ll visit your dentist who will put a crown or other restoration on the tooth to protect and restore it to full function. After the dentist restores it the tooth will continue to function like your natural teeth.

• Traumatic Dental Injuries
• Knocked-Out Teeth

While endodontists are specialists in saving teeth — meaning they are trained in performing root canal treatment and other procedures to save the tooth — they will look at all treatment options to determine the best course of action for each individual patient and case.