Your first endodontic visit: what to expect

Most people have never visited an endodontic practice before, and not knowing what will happen is half the worry. This is the visit, start to finish.

Before you come

• Note which tooth or side hurts, what sets it off, how long it lasts and whether painkillers help.
• Bring recent X-rays from your dentist, or ask them to send them — it saves repeating them.
• Bring a list of your medication and medical conditions.
• Eat normally; there is no need to fast.
• If dental treatment makes you anxious, say so when you book. The appointment is paced to suit you.

The conversation

The first ten minutes are questions. How the pain behaves tells us a great deal before we look: lingering sensitivity to heat points one way, sharp pain on biting another, a history of a knock a third. Your answers direct the tests that follow.

The examination and tests

We examine the teeth, gums and restorations, then test individual teeth: cold applied to each one shows whether its nerve responds normally, excessively or not at all; tapping and biting tests locate inflammation around a root or a cracked cusp. None of it should hurt more than a moment. Low-dose digital X-rays complete the picture, and some cases warrant a three-dimensional scan.

The diagnosis and plan

You will be shown what we have found, in plain English, with the images on the screen. We explain whether the tooth can be kept, which treatment is appropriate, how predictable it is for your tooth and what happens if nothing is done. The plan and the fee are given to you in writing. You are welcome to go away and think about it.

Treatment on the same day?

If you are in pain and the diagnosis is clear, emergency treatment to relieve it can often begin at the same visit. Otherwise treatment is scheduled for a dedicated appointment.

How long it takes

Allow about 45 minutes for a consultation, and 60 to 90 minutes for a treatment visit. Appointments are long enough that nothing is hurried.

Afterwards

Your dentist receives a summary of the findings and recommendations, with the X-rays, so that everyone involved in your care has the same information. See root canal treatment for what the treatment visit itself involves.