Today, a lot of dental research, news and progression revolves around implant dentistry. In the past when a tooth went bad, or a tooth and nerve died, a root canal was performed to get rid of any infection and allow the tooth to be restored. Dr Spath explains several reasons a dental implant may be a better solution than a root canal and crown in this short video.
Today there is an alternative to root canals called a dental implant. Generally a root canal will still be performed when the tooth structure has a good, or the patient doesn’t have a high risk for decay. The last thing you want to do is to perform a root canal with a crown on a patient who has a high susceptibility to future decay, forcing a retraction of the tooth down the road.
Implant success rates range between 92-97% depending on which jaw they are performed on and the quality of bone. Though root canals and crowns have a similar success rate, the re-treatment rate drops into the low 80 percentile. At this rate it is important to initially determine the best long term solution for the patient, which may be a dental implant.
Reasons to consider a dental implant:
- If the patient has a high risk of tooth decay (Root canal and crowns get reinfected) an implant is the best solution.
- If it is the second root canal on a specific tooth (root canal retreat) an implant should installed.
- If there is minimal amount of healthy tooth remaining to support a restoration an implant should be performed.
- If a root canal tooth supports a bridge an implant can be performed.
Learn more about Crowns here: Crowns & Bridges
Learn more about Implants: Dental Implants
