Root canal treatment success rate

[Quentin]

My dentist has told me that my lower molar tooth on the right needs to have root canal treatment as it has chronic infection around its roots.

He has also given me the option of having the tooth removed if I don't wish to have root canal treatment. The root canal option also means that the tooth needs a crown as well, so there is a significant difference in cost between the root canal and crown option and the extraction option.

So I would like to know what is the success rate with root canal treatment? Is it worth the cost or will the tooth be removed in a few years anyway because the root canal treatment did not work.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post. The five year success rate for root canal treatment ranges between 50-90% according to the studies carried out.

Generally speaking, if a tooth is saveable and the prognosis is not hopeless, its better to save it with root canal treatment if possible, because the alternatives of implants, bridges, dentures tend to be either expensive or not as good as the tooth itself.