A root canal removes the infected or dying pulp from inside a tooth, cleans the canals and seals them. The tooth stays in your mouth. The infection inside it is cleaned out.
Our dentists do root canal treatment here on every tooth, molars included. You do not need a referral or a file with us to book.
Do you need a root canal?
The pulp is the soft tissue in the centre of a tooth. It holds the nerve and blood supply. Mild inflammation can settle once the cause is fixed. Once the damage goes past recovery, or the nerve dies, it cannot heal.
Deep decay is the common cause. Cracks cause it too. So do an old knock to the tooth, a very deep filling and repeated work on one tooth.
Signs worth booking for:
- Pain that lingers after something hot or cold
- A throbbing ache that wakes you
- Pain when you bite or tap the tooth
- A pimple on the gum near the tooth
- Swelling in the gum or face
- A tooth that has turned grey or dark
- A tooth that feels loose because infection has weakened the bone holding it (Cleveland Clinic)
None of these confirm it alone. Pain can also be referred from a different tooth. We test with cold and tapping and take an x-ray before deciding. See toothache if you are not sure where it is coming from.
Watch for this. A dead nerve can stop hurting completely. The problem at the root tip stays until it is treated.
Root canal, filling or extraction?
Nerve healthy and decay not too deep? A filling is enough.
Nerve inflamed past recovery, or dead, and the tooth worth saving? A root canal.
Tooth split down the root, or too little left to restore? Extraction. Then you decide about the gap. An implant, a bridge or nothing at all.
Your own tooth is worth keeping. The American Association of Endodontists calls saving it the preferred option whenever that is possible. If it cannot be saved, we say so and explain why.
An empty gap has a cost of its own. The teeth next to it can shift into the space, and stopping that drift is one of the jobs Cleveland Clinic lists for a bridge.
What happens during a root canal
- Numbing. Local anaesthetic, as for a filling.
- Rubber dam. A thin sheet isolates the tooth. It keeps saliva and bacteria out and stops instruments or rinse reaching your throat.
- Access. A small opening through the top of the tooth.
- Cleaning and shaping. Fine files remove the pulp and shape each canal. Rinses disinfect them.
- Filling and sealing. The canals are filled with gutta-percha, a rubbery dental material (Cleveland Clinic), and sealed to stop bacteria getting back in.
- Closing the tooth. A filling, and on most back teeth a crown later.
A front tooth has one or two canals. A molar usually has three or four. Some are narrow and curved. That is why a molar takes longer and costs more.
Age and an old injury also narrow the canals as hard tissue builds up inside them. A canal in that state is harder to find and follow, so the work takes more time (European Endodontic Journal, 2025).
If the work runs over more than one visit, the tooth is sealed with a temporary filling in between. Chew on the other side until you are back. Call if the temporary comes out.
Want the tooth checked? Call (905) 821-8632 or book online.
Does a root canal hurt?
The tooth is numbed first. It feels much like having a filling, only longer. The pain people link to root canals comes from the infected tooth before treatment.
You feel pressure while the dentist works (Cleveland Clinic). Sharp pain is a signal to stop. Tell the dentist, and more anaesthetic can go in before the work carries on.
Your jaw and face can stay numb for several hours (NHS). The American Association of Endodontists says to skip chewing, hot or cold drinks and smoking for the first hour.
Afterwards the tooth is tender to bite on for some days. Most people recover in less than a week, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Over-the-counter pain relief helps. Keep to the dose on the pack. Never take two products with the same ingredient.
Pregnant? On blood thinners? Buying for a child, or living with a stomach, kidney or liver condition? Check with your pharmacist before taking anything.
Until the final filling or crown is on, keep hard food and heavy biting away from that tooth. Brush and floss as usual and go gently around it (AAE). A rash, hives or itching after a new medicine is also a reason to phone us.
Call us if:
- The pain gets worse instead of better
- Pain relief does not control it
- It has not eased after a few days
- Swelling appears
- The tooth feels high when you bite
Go to hospital the same day if:
- Swelling spreads toward your eye, down your neck or under your tongue
- Swelling grows fast
- Your vision changes
- You have a fever with swelling
- You have trouble opening your mouth
- You feel very unwell
Call 911 if you have difficulty breathing or swallowing, are drooling because you cannot manage your saliva, your voice has changed or sounds muffled, or you feel confused or faint. More on swelling and infection.
Toothache that cannot wait
A tooth that keeps you awake, throbs with heat or has a swelling next to it needs seeing that day. Ring (905) 821-8632 first thing in the morning. We see urgent patients during opening hours: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday to Thursday and 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday and Saturday.
At an urgent visit the aim is to stop the pain. The dentist tests the tooth and takes an x-ray before deciding anything. Where a root canal is the answer, the first visit can clean out the canals and seal a dressing inside, with the rest finished at a booked appointment.
Before your visit, use a pharmacy pain reliever exactly as its label says and rest a cold pack on the cheek. Swelling that reaches your eye or neck, or comes with a fever, is a hospital visit and the list above sets out when.
Why antibiotics are not enough
Antibiotics travel in the blood. They reach the gum and bone around the tooth. The dead pulp inside has no blood supply left, so they do not clear the bacteria in the canals.
A dentist prescribes them alongside treatment when infection spreads or brings a fever. They do not replace it. Take every dose until the pack is finished unless you are told to stop, and never share them (Health Canada). The source stays in the tooth until a root canal or extraction removes it.
A spreading infection needs care the same day. If your immune system is weakened, tell us when you call.
Do you need a crown afterwards?
A root-treated back tooth has lost structure to decay, old fillings and the access opening. It also takes heavy chewing forces. Covering the cusps with a crown lowers the risk of it splitting. Most molars and premolars need a crown or a similar cover.
A front tooth with plenty of sound structure left can do well with a filling alone. We decide by tooth, not by rule.
Delay the crown your dentist recommends and a back tooth can crack past saving.
How long does a root-treated tooth last?
In a US insurance-claims study of 1,462,936 teeth, 97% had no record of extraction eight years after root canal treatment. That measures teeth kept, not teeth fully healed.
Treatment can still fail. Bacteria get back in through new decay, a leaking filling or crown, a crack or a canal too fine to clean fully.
A failed tooth has options. Retreatment reopens the canals and cleans them again. Root-end surgery (an apicoectomy) goes in through the gum, removes the infected tissue at the root tip and seals the end of the root.
Extraction is the last option. We explain which fits your tooth and where each is done.
What a root canal costs in Mississauga
The type of tooth sets the range. Each range runs from the lowest to the highest price published by Mississauga-area practices, in Canadian dollars, for the root canal alone.
| Tooth | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Front tooth | $600 to $1,000 |
| Premolar | $750 to $1,200 |
| Molar | $800 to $1,600 |
Ask whether the crown is in the quote. Crown prices in the area run from $500 to $4,000 by material.
What moves you inside a range: the number of canals and their shape. A retreatment costs more than a first treatment. Ask whether a build-up or post is in the quote too.
What else goes on the bill
A root canal price covers the work inside the canals. Ask whether a quote counts the exam and x-rays that find the problem and the crown or filling that covers the tooth afterwards. Add them together when you compare two quotes.
If the tooth needs an endodontist, that office sets its own fee and gives you its own estimate.
Ontario fees sit around the Ontario Dental Association's suggested fee guide, which comes out each year. The ODA says a dentist's fee can be above or below it. Some insurers still pay from an older guide, and that shortfall lands on you.
These figures are area ranges. They are not our fee schedule. Your written estimate shows each item for your tooth.
Before treatment:
- Get the written estimate in your hand before the first visit
- Have us file a pre-determination. Your insurer replies with an estimate of its share. It is an estimate, not a promise to pay
- We offer direct insurance billing. Deductibles and plan limits still apply, and any balance is yours
- Check whether the Canadian Dental Care Plan applies. Eligibility turns on family income and other federal rules. The plan lists root canal treatment, pulpectomy and procedures that reduce infection and relieve pain. A retreatment, a crown and the core or post under a crown each need plan approval first
- Know your CDCP share. Adjusted family net income under $70,000 pays no co-payment. The share is 40% of the plan fee for $70,000 to $79,999 and 60% for $80,000 to $89,999, plus any gap up to the dentist fee (Government of Canada)
Full details on the CDCP at our clinic.
Dentistry on Britannia is a general dental practice. Our dentists are general dentists, not specialists in any RCDSO-recognised specialty.