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Thanks to better techniques, materials and technology, root canals are no longer the dreaded experiences they once were, for either the doctor or the patient.


By Stan Goff

photo: getty image

Tony Soileau doesn’t mind at all if the public carries on the perception that root canals are horrible. That is, as long as they’re not referring to his root canals. The Lafayette, La., dentist actually likes to be the one to convert patients into realizing that in many cases the once-painful procedures can be performed quickly, easily and without discomfort. In fact, today’s procedures can take a painful case and turn them around in a hurry.

“If you look at it from a marketing standpoint, I like the fact that patients think that root canals are horrible,” said Dr. Soileau, a general practitioner who has learned to take on nearly every endodontics case he faces rather than refer patients to a specialist. “It’s the best thing. I don’t want that to ever change.

In the ’80s and ’70s, they were thought of as horrible, and I can’t even imagine a root canal in the ’60s.”

But now, thanks to advances in materials, techniques and equipment, treating root canals has greatly improved for both the patient and the doctor. General practitioners Dr. Soileau and AGD Spokesperson Dr. Eugene Antenucci, FAGD, help break down DPR’s exclusive 2008 Endodontics Survey and take a look at some of the biggest breakthroughs in recent years in the specialty.

“There’s that unfavorable perception,” Dr. Soileau continues, “so when you come to see me and I finish your root canal in 30 minutes and it didn’t hurt at all, I’m just the best doctor on the planet. And I don’t have a problem with that perception. When we’re done, I ask patients, ‘Was it really that bad?’ And they say, ‘Man it was fantastic! I heard they were horrible!’”

But not anymore. Certainly not in practices that take advantage of technologies such as rotary instrumentation, electronic apex locators, digital radiography, and a wide variety of materials and obturation systems designed to work better and save time.

“I don’t talk bad about another dentist, but I’ll say to those patients who complain that they weren’t talking about my root canals, and I’ll leave it at that. Endodontics is just a huge practice builder.

“Now these patients will come back, and they’re going to refer their friends. So now you’ve got a patient for life.”

Dr. Soileau always has liked performing endo, but it was only after he got real good and efficient at performing more cases that he decided to handle most cases himself. He suggests other GPs do the same. Get proficient at the easier root canal cases and then put a plan in place to handle more emergency root canals in your practice.

According to the survey, 60% of respondents have experienced an increase in their endodontic caseload over the past three years. This is a significant jump from last year’s DPR survey, when 40% of our readers indicated such an increase. A more than two-thirds majority of you perform 1-3 endodontic procedures each week, while 17% handle 4-5 each week.

“I’ve always done endo and I’ve always liked it,” Dr. Soileau said. “But it was always somewhat stressful for me, so it was one of those things where I did it only on selective cases.”

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