A root filling takes the place of a dead or dying nerve within a tooth in order to preserve the tooth's natural pain-free function.

Why is a root filling necessary?
Once the nerve in a tooth has been damaged, by a knock or excessive decay for instance, it will gradually start to die. This will ultimately result in a painful dental abscess. Therefore a Root Filling is necessary in order to retain your natural tooth in a healthy disease free way.

What does R.C.T. entail?
A Root Filling usually takes a couple of half hour appointments. On the first appointment your tooth will be numbed using local anaesthetic, enabling the root canal to be located, cleaned and shaped painlessly. On this appointment the tooth is usually dressed with a strong tasting antiseptic dressing, and x-rays may be taken.

Providing the tooth is free of infection, the follow up appointments needed to fill the root canal,-a rubbery material called Gutta Percha fills the space where the nerve used to be. Then the tooth is restored as normal and again x-rays may be taken. The above information is very generalised as each patient presents with slightly different needs, this results in subtle changes to the treatment.

Is there an alternative to R.C.T.?
The Short answer is YES, an extraction.

How much does a root filling cost and is it available on the N.H.S.?
Yes, a root filling is available on the N.H.S. The N.H.S. charge for a root filling starts at £21.05 and goes up to £51.16 depending on which tooth needs root filling. The restoration that is placed over the root filling will have an additional cost.