Nothing is as good as your natural tooth!

Saving your natural tooth should always be your first choice when dental care is needed.  Nothing, not even the most advanced bridges and implants, can truly replace your natural tooth.

If your dentist recommends extracting your tooth, ask if an endodontist can help save it with root canal treatment.  15-20 million teeth are saved by RCTs each year in the US alone.  Once treated the tooth is then restored and can function just like any other tooth for the rest of your life, ensuring comfortable chewing and a natural appearance.

What about an implant instead of root canal treatment?

The success rates of both are equal. Over 90% are retained for five years.

Implants require multiple visits and surgeries.  Implants require extracting the tooth followed by multiple surgeries to insert a metal post into jaw and then affix a porcelain crown to the post.  Bone grafting or sinus surgery may also be required.  The procedures can take up to year to complete. 

Root canal treatment can usually be completed in a single visit.
Intervention is much higher with implants.  A recent study showed that implants required significantly more follow-up care than root canal treatment.

Cost is much higher with implants.  A single implant restored tooth costs 75-90% more than a similarly restored endodontically treated tooth.  If adjunctive treatments such bone grafting or periodontal surgery are required the cost for implants becomes much higher.

Complications are higher with implants:  Adverse events such as paraesthesia, hematoma, hemorrhage and devitalization of adjacent teeth are more common.

Systemic health issues such as diabetes, smoking, cancer and osteoporosis, have a greater negative impact on implants
Should either treatment fail, revision of a failing root canal treatment is far easier than that of a failing implant.