Root canal treatments do not have to be painful and there is an alternative treatment option available that often successfully avoid it altogether. When we restore teeth with very deep decay we sometimes expose the nerve. Traditionally we had to take the nerve out and seal the nerve space – the dreaded term ‘root canal treatment’.

The answer is a MTA pulp cap – an alternative to root canal treatment.

If we expose a healthy and symptom-free nerve we can cover the exposed area with a special cement called MTA (Mineral Trioxide Aggregate). The nerve may still die but this is very rare and most of the time the outcome is successful, saving our patients a root canal treatment. The MTA cement is covered with a Glass Ionomer cement and the tooth is restored with a composite resin (white) restoration. The procedure is completely painless and most people do not even need to take pain killers afterwards.

We can see deep decay on the X-ray

The tooth restored with a composite resin restoration and a very happy patient!