“Well behaved women rarely make history” Marilyn Monroe.

The first documented root canal was performed in 1838 by Edwin Maynard. Root canal therapy became widely accepted by the dental community in the 1950’s. Many advances in the technique, materials and diagnosis of root canal treatment occurred in the 1990’s to present day. Root canal therapy is usually a successful modality of preserving a patients natural dentition.

However, root canals can and do fail. The failure rate depends on who choose to believe. Some authors state the failure rate is 7% or less, while other authors will have a less optimistic failure rate of up to 40%. Symptoms of a failed root canal can be pain, swelling or a gum pimple or fistula next to the root canal treated tooth. It is extremely important to not ignore a failing root canal as the infection can spread to other parts of your body and can create a potentially life threatening infections.

Sincerely,
Michael W. Dagostino, DDS.