Endodontists
Have questions about endodontics? One of our very own endodontists took some time to share information and answer common patient questions to help educate about endodontics and endodontists and the role they play in your oral health. View the table of contents below to learn more or find your question and get an answer from one of our endodontists!
The following content was provided by Dr. Sarah Hussain, D.M.D. and M.S., and has been medically reviewed for accuracy. Some relevant links have been added to audio transcripts to provide resources for additional information.
Table of Contents:
Click a question below to be taken directly to that answer.
What does an endodontist do?
Answer provided by Dr. Sarah Hussain. Transcript included below.
Dr. Sarah Hussain:
An endodontist is as specialized dentist. Or we can say it’s a specialist. It’s like when you go to your primary care physician, which is the dentist, and then he may refer to the ENT specialist, which is the endodontist. The endodontist is a specialist dentist who only does root canal treatments.
What is the difference between an endodontist and a general dentist?
Answer provided by Dr. Sarah Hussain. Transcript included below.
Dr. Sarah Hussain:
Okay. So the general dentist, when we do dental school, we graduate as a general dentist. However, for any specialist to be a specialist he should go for a further training. So for endodontist, he must go through two or three years of residency, which is only endodontics residency. During that program, two or three years, this dentist will be only doing root canal treatment every day, every single day. And in order to graduate from the residency, most programs will require the residents to do at least 300 to 500 cases of root canal treatment, plus endo surgeries to be an endodontist.
What is the difference between an endodontist and a periodontist?
Answer provided by Dr. Sarah Hussain. Transcript included below.
Dr. Sarah Hussain:
Okay. So, like I mentioned earlier, the endodontist, he is the specialist who does only root canal treatments. The periodontist, he is the specialist who only does perio treatment, which may include perio surgeries, bone graft. It is more related to the tooth supporting structure, the gum tissue, the bone that’s holding the tooth in place, while endodontics is more related to the health of the tooth itself and the nerve tissue and the pulp tissue inside the tooth.
What procedures does an endodontist perform?
Answer provided by Dr. Sarah Hussain. Transcript included below.
Dr. Sarah Hussain:
An endodontist does root canal treatment, number one. Number two, micro surgery. The old name is apicoectomy, which is microsurgery, where we have to go through the gum tissue and cut the infection out and retrofill the root end just to seal it so bacteria cannot grow in the area anymore. And then close it up, which is a microsurgery. Number three, an endodontist can do regeneration, which is a new treatment in endodontics that is very successful treatment. The success rate is above 95% when the nerve tissue is dead. And then this procedure helps to regenerate the pulp tissue inside the tooth. And some other treatment related to dental trauma. For example, if the front tip is broken, the endodontist can take care of that as well. They do fixation, and then we do some other treatments all related to dental trauma.
