Root canals in Houston, and what they actually cost
Root canal treatment starts at $1,200 for an anterior tooth, $1,400 for a bicuspid and $1,600 for a molar. Retreatment of a previously treated tooth starts at $1,400 and an apicoectomy at $2,000. The crown that goes on afterward is from $1,200, quoted exactly at the same appointment, because a restoration left out of the quote is the single most common reason these numbers are hard to compare.
Why other quotes say $3,000
This is the most common question people arrive with, so it goes first.
A $3,000 quote is usually not one procedure. It is normally the root canal, plus the post and core that rebuilds the inside of the tooth, plus the crown that goes over it. Three fees presented as one number, which is why quotes are so hard to compare.
It also varies by tooth, and that part is real rather than a markup. A molar has more canals than a front tooth, often four and sometimes more, and takes considerably longer to treat properly.
So here is ours, tooth by tooth, stated as plainly as we can.
• Root canal, front tooth: $1,200.
• Root canal, bicuspid: $1,400.
• Root canal, molar: $1,600.
• Retreatment of a tooth treated before: from $1,400, because the old filling material has to come out before the canals can be cleaned and sealed again.
• Apicoectomy, a small surgical procedure at the root tip when the canal cannot be reached the conventional way: from $2,000.
• Cracked tooth diagnosis: free with treatment.
The crown afterward is from $1,200, and the post and core that rebuilds the inside of the tooth first, when it needs one, is $438. We are not going to hide either inside a headline number. Most back teeth need the crown. We quote it exactly at the same appointment so the full cost of saving the tooth is one conversation rather than a surprise six weeks later.
So a molar and its crown come to $2,800 here, start to finish, still under that $3,000 figure. If you were quoted around $3,000 for a molar with its crown, that is not far out of line, and it may well be a number that leaves something out. What is worth checking is whether the quote you are holding actually includes the crown, because the $1,600 above does not, and many quotes do not either.
What a root canal is actually treating
Inside every tooth is a chamber of soft tissue called the pulp, made of nerve and blood vessels. Deep decay, a crack, repeated dental work or a knock to the tooth can let bacteria reach it. Once the pulp is infected or dying it cannot heal on its own, and the infection works down the canals toward the tip of the root and into the bone around it.
A root canal removes that tissue, disinfects and shapes the canal system, then seals it so bacteria cannot re-colonize the space. The tooth stays in your mouth and keeps doing its job. Nothing is taken out of your jaw.
The alternative is usually extraction, and that starts a longer chain. The gap needs an implant or a bridge, and the bone in that spot begins to shrink once the root is gone. Keeping your own tooth, when it can be kept predictably, is the more conservative choice and usually the cheaper one over time. An extraction is $290 and an implant to replace the tooth is $3,500, plus a graft at $650 if the site needs rebuilding first. That is the arithmetic worth having in front of you before deciding, because saving a tooth is usually the cheaper path over time even at $1,600.
Do you need an endodontist, or will your dentist do?
An honest answer rather than a sales one.
Plenty of general dentists do root canals, and do them well. A straightforward front tooth with a single canal is routine work, and if your own dentist is comfortable taking it on, there is nothing wrong with that.
What an endodontist brings is volume and equipment. We do this all day, we work under a surgical microscope, and we have CBCT imaging in the building. That matters most in specific situations rather than universally:
• Molars, which carry more canals and more variation in where those canals go.
• Teeth where a previous root canal did not settle down.
• Anatomy that is calcified, curved or otherwise hard to negotiate.
• Cases where the diagnosis itself is unclear, including suspected cracks.
• Anyone who has had a difficult time in a dental chair before and wants the procedure done under sedation.
If your dentist has referred you here, that is a normal and sensible referral rather than a sign something has gone wrong. If you have come directly without a referral, that is fine too, and you do not need one.
Signs, and how we work out which tooth
Common signals include lingering pain to hot or cold that does not fade after a few seconds, pain on biting, a dull ache that wakes you at night, a pimple-like bump on the gum, or a tooth that has darkened. Some teeth give no warning at all and show up only as a shadow at the root tip on an X ray.
Diagnosis is the part that gets rushed. We use cold testing, tap and bite tests, and check each tooth individually, because pain refers easily and the tooth that hurts is very often not the tooth that is sick. Treating the wrong tooth is a real thing that happens, and it happens when nobody tested.
When a standard X ray does not settle it, CBCT 3D imaging shows root anatomy, extra canals and bone changes that flat images hide.
Cracked teeth are their own puzzle. A crack can look like a straightforward infection while carrying a very different outlook, and some cracked teeth cannot be saved at all. Cracked tooth diagnosis is free with treatment, because working out whether a tooth is worth saving has to come before deciding how to save it.
What the appointment is like
You are numbed first, and we confirm you are fully numb before starting. An infected tooth can be harder to numb than a healthy one, which is worth saying out loud because it is the thing people are most afraid of. Tell us if you are not numb. We will stop and add more.
If dental anxiety is why this has been put off, sedation is available and IV sedation is $1,500. Ask when you book rather than on the day.
A small sheet called a rubber dam isolates the tooth. It keeps saliva and bacteria out of the canal and keeps rinsing solutions out of your mouth. We work under a surgical microscope, which is the difference between seeing a canal and estimating where one ought to be. Missed anatomy is one of the more common reasons treatment does not settle down.
The canals are cleaned, shaped and disinfected, then filled and sealed. Many teeth finish in a single visit; heavily infected or complex teeth may need two.
If a tooth turns out not to be savable once we are inside it, the oral surgeons and the implant team are in the same building, so that conversation happens the same day rather than becoming three appointments at three addresses.
If it hurts right now and you cannot get in yet
People search for home remedies for root canal pain at two in the morning, so here is what is actually reasonable and what is not.
What helps in the meantime: an over the counter anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen, taken as directed on the packet, is usually more effective for this kind of pain than paracetamol alone. A cold compress against the cheek helps. Sleeping with your head propped up higher reduces the throbbing that gets worse when you lie flat. Keep off that side when you eat.
What does not help, and can cause harm: holding an aspirin against the gum burns the tissue and does nothing for the tooth. Heat on the face makes a swelling worse rather than better. Clove oil is widely recommended online and at best dulls the surface for a short while.
None of it treats the problem. The pain is coming from infected tissue inside a sealed space, and no rinse or tablet reaches it. What these measures buy you is a tolerable night.
Call us the same day if you can. Swelling that is spreading, a swelling that closes your eye or crosses into your neck, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or a fever with a swollen face are not wait-until-morning problems and belong in an emergency room rather than a dental chair. We hold emergency slots every weekday and open Saturdays 9 to 3, but we are not a 24 hour service and would rather say so.
Afterwards, the crown, and what you can eat
Expect the tooth to feel tender to bite on for a few days while the ligament around the root calms down. Over the counter anti-inflammatories usually handle it. Pain that builds rather than fades, swelling that grows, or a fever is not part of normal healing and is a reason to call rather than wait it out.
On eating, which is the question everyone actually asks: wait until the numbness has completely gone before eating anything, because it is very easy to bite your own cheek or tongue without knowing. After that, soft food for the first day or two and chew on the other side. Rice, pasta, eggs, soup and anything that does not need force are all fine. What to avoid is chewing hard or crunchy things on that tooth until the permanent restoration is on.
That restriction matters more than it sounds. The single biggest thing you can do to protect the work is to get the tooth properly restored, and soon. A treated back tooth has lost internal structure and has an access opening through its biting surface. Left with only a temporary filling it can crack under ordinary chewing, and a vertical root fracture is the one problem a root canal cannot fix.
Most back teeth need a crown or onlay afterward. Front teeth sometimes need only a bonded filling. The crown is quoted at your consultation, and we would rather you budgeted for it from the start than treated it as optional.
Cost, and what insurance actually does
Root canal treatment starts at $1,200 for a front tooth, $1,400 for a bicuspid and $1,600 for a molar. Retreatment starts at $1,400 and an apicoectomy at $2,000. Cracked tooth diagnosis is free with treatment. The crown that goes on afterward is from $1,200, and a post and core, when the tooth needs one, is $438, quoted at the same appointment.
The exam that works out what is wrong, including the testing and imaging, is where this starts, and a new patient exam with cleaning is $79.99.
On insurance, we are not going to tell you a percentage. Endodontic treatment is handled differently from policy to policy, many plans put it in a different category from the crown that follows it, and annual maximums frequently run out between the two. That last point catches people: the root canal is covered, the crown lands in the next benefit year, and nobody mentioned it. We verify your specific benefit with your insurer before you decide and give you your own number in writing.
If you have no insurance, the membership plan is $199 a year, covers your exams, cleanings and X rays, and takes 15% off treatment. Cherry, Affirm and Sunbit spread the balance monthly, and HSA and FSA funds generally apply.
More detail in our guide to root canal cost in Houston.
Root canals in Midtown Houston, including the urgent ones
Root canal pain does not wait for a convenient appointment. We hold emergency slots every weekday and open Saturdays 9 to 3.
Treatment here is done by Dr. Pedram Bohluli and Dr. Parastou Terrany. Dr. Bohluli holds a Master's degree and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from UT Southwestern and earned his certificate in endodontics from Columbia University in 2007. Dr. Terrany has practiced dentistry for more than twenty years and has focused on endodontics since completing six years in general practice.
Being multi-specialty matters here more than it sounds. If the tooth turns out to be unsavable once we are inside it, the oral surgeon and the restorative dentist are down the hall, so the conversation about extraction and replacement happens the same day.
We are at 106 W Gray Street in Midtown, between Downtown and the Texas Medical Center, with parking on site. People come to us from Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, EaDo and the Museum District. Open Monday to Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 9 to 3.
Call (713) 322-7474 or book online.
Treatments & pricing
Root canal treatment
Anterior $1,200, bicuspid $1,400, molar $1,600. The crown afterward is from $1,200.
Root canal retreatment
Redoing a previous root canal. Anterior $1,400, bicuspid $1,600, molar $1,800.
Apicoectomy
Surgical root-tip removal when retreatment isn't an option. Outpatient, under local anesthesia.
Cracked tooth diagnosis
CBCT imaging to find the crack before it becomes a lost tooth.
Prices are estimates for self-pay patients before insurance. What your own plan contributes depends on the policy, and we verify it with your insurer before treatment. Financing available - most patients qualify in minutes via Cherry or Sunbit.
The team who handles this work
Frequently asked
Why is my root canal quote $3,000?
Usually because it is not one procedure. A quote around that figure normally bundles the root canal, the post and core that rebuilds the inside of the tooth, and the crown that goes over it. Molars also cost more than front teeth because they carry more canals and take longer. Here is ours at our Midtown office: a molar root canal is $1,600 and the crown is from $1,200, which comes to $2,800 for the finished tooth, still under that $3,000 figure. A post and core, when the tooth needs one, is $438 on top. So a $3,000 quote is not necessarily anyone overcharging you, but it may be a quote that leaves something out. Ask any office you are comparing whether their number includes the restoration.
How much does a root canal cost in Houston?
Root canal treatment at our Midtown office is $1,200 for a front tooth, $1,400 for a bicuspid and $1,600 for a molar, since back teeth carry more canals and take longer. Retreatment of a tooth treated before starts at $1,400, because the old material has to be removed first. An apicoectomy, the small surgical procedure at the root tip, starts at $2,000. Cracked tooth diagnosis is free with treatment. The crown that restores the tooth afterward is from $1,200, and the post and core that rebuilds the inside of it first, when the tooth needs one, is $438. Both are quoted at the same appointment.
Is it better to go to an endodontist for a root canal?
Not always, and it would be dishonest to say otherwise. Plenty of general dentists handle straightforward root canals well, particularly single canal front teeth. An endodontist is worth seeking out for molars, for teeth where a previous root canal did not settle, for calcified or curved anatomy, where the diagnosis is unclear including suspected cracks, and if you want the procedure done under sedation. You do not need a referral to book with us.
Is a root canal painful?
The procedure itself is done under local anesthetic and is generally no more uncomfortable than having a filling. The pain people associate with root canals is the infection beforehand, and that is what the treatment removes. Worth knowing: an infected tooth can be harder to numb than a healthy one, so tell us if you are not fully numb and we will stop and add more. Sedation is available, and IV sedation is $1,500.
What can I do for root canal pain right now?
An over the counter anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen taken as directed is usually more effective for this pain than paracetamol alone, a cold compress on the cheek helps, and sleeping with your head propped up reduces the throbbing. Do not hold aspirin against the gum, which burns the tissue, and do not apply heat to a swelling. None of this treats the infection, it only buys you a tolerable night. Spreading swelling, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or a fever with a swollen face need an emergency room rather than a dental appointment.
What can I eat after a root canal?
Wait until the numbness has fully worn off before eating anything, because it is easy to bite your cheek or tongue without feeling it. After that, soft food for a day or two and chew on the other side. Rice, pasta, eggs and soup are all fine. Avoid hard or crunchy food on the treated tooth until the permanent crown or filling is in place, because the tooth is more fragile until it is properly restored.
Can a tooth be saved if a previous root canal failed?
Often yes. Retreatment removes the old filling material, finds missed canals or other reasons the first attempt did not settle, and re-seals the tooth, and it starts at $1,400. Where retreatment is not possible or has already been tried, an apicoectomy treats the problem surgically at the root tip and starts at $2,000. Some teeth cannot be saved, and we would rather tell you that at the diagnosis stage than after you have paid for another attempt.
How long does a root canal last?
A properly treated tooth that is restored promptly can last many years, and often for the rest of your life, but nobody can promise that about any tooth. What most affects the outcome is getting the permanent crown or filling placed rather than leaving the tooth on a temporary, since a treated back tooth left unrestored can fracture under ordinary chewing. A vertical root fracture is the one problem a root canal cannot fix.
Related specialties
Ready to get started?
Book a consultation. We'll walk you through your options, your costs, and your timeline - no pressure.