hi We've all heard of root canals and root canal therapy... and even if you don't really recognize what it is, we know it generally doesn't sound too good. So what is a root canal? It's a procedure that is done to save and repair a tooth that is decayed or that is infected. What is basically being done when you have a root canal procedure done is the nerve and pulp that are inside of the tooth are taken out and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and the sealed back up. Root canal therapy is made up of an X-Ray should be taken, your tooth and the area should be numbed and then the tooth is drilled, cleaned and sealed back up. With that being said, you have to think all of this cost a fortune. It doesn't cost a fortune, but the price can differ depending on other factors that should be taken into consideration. You can have root canal therapy done by a general dentist burtonsville or by an endodontist, which is root canal specialist. Generally speaking if you go to an endodontist you will typically be charged 30-50% more then you would at a general dentist. It should be said that in most cases an endodontist would be used in the cases of the more difficult cases of root canal therapy. So you would have to pay 30-50% more to go to a specialist that would do the same thing a general dentist would be doing. Another influence of the cost of root canal therapy is the placement of the tooth that needs to have the procedure done on. Typically a tooth that is in the front of the mouth is going to have a lesser charge that a tooth that is in the rear of the mouth. A tooth that's in the front of the mouth only has one canal while a tooth in the rear of the mouth can have three or more, which can make the price go higher if it's in the rear of the mouth. Something else that could cause the price of root canal therapy is when you get the procedure done. There are times when you can find out that you will need to have root canal therapy well in advance that you can schedule an appointment to get it taken care of. But then there are times where it is an emergency and you don't have the time to set an appointment. In these cases if it is done on the same day, the next day or especially if it is done on the weekend, you are going to pay a lot more money to have the same procedure done. In some cases you can pay $50-$100 or more than you generally would pay in an instance that it's not an emergency. Another part of root canal therapy that could have a major influence on the cost of root canal therapy is what is used when the dental crown is being put on. Usually for the front teeth a all porcelain crown is used and for the back teeth a metal or a metal and porcelain fused crown is used. There is definitely a price difference for what crown is used that could bee anywhere between $300-$1,000 difference.