A root canal saves the tooth. That is the whole point.
It has a terrible reputation and a 90%-plus success rate. Modern root canal treatment under proper anaesthetic is closer to having a large filling than to the horror stories. Here are the ten closest practices, with published fees.
Free to use. We're paid by verified practices, never by ranking position.
Front tooth
$900 – $1,300
Premolar
$1,000 – $1,500
Molar
$1,200 – $1,800
Crown afterwards
$1,100 – $2,300
90 – 95%published long-term success rate
Step 1 — your location
Ten root canal dentists near you, ranked in about four seconds.
Molars are genuinely harder than front teeth. We flag which listed practices have an endodontist or a dentist with documented endodontic volume, and who can see you this week if you are in pain.
Your location is used to sort results and is never sold or shared with third parties.
Showing 10 root canal dentists near Austin, TXRanked by distance, review quality and published pricing
The pulp — nerve and blood supply — inside the tooth has become infected or has died, usually from deep decay, a crack or trauma. Root canal treatment removes that tissue, disinfects and shapes the canals, and seals them so bacteria cannot re-colonise. The tooth stays in your jaw and keeps functioning; it simply no longer has a living nerve. Because it becomes more brittle afterwards, a back tooth almost always needs a crown to stop it splitting.
The crown afterwards is not optional on a back tooth. A root-treated molar without a crown has a substantially higher fracture rate.
Ask whether they use a microscope. Finding and sealing every canal is the whole game, and molars often have four.
Two visits or one is a clinical decision, not a convenience one. Both are legitimate depending on infection.
Budget for the crown in the same plan. A quote for the root canal alone is only half the real cost.
The treatment itself is done under local anaesthetic and most people report it as no worse than a large filling. The relief usually starts the same day.
01
Diagnosis
X-rays, cold and electric pulp testing, and tapping tests to confirm which tooth and whether the pulp is truly dead.
Visit 1 · 30 min
02
Anaesthetic & isolation
Local anaesthetic, then a rubber dam so the tooth is isolated from saliva. Working without a dam is a red flag.
Same visit · 15 min
03
Cleaning & shaping
The pulp is removed and each canal is cleaned, shaped and disinfected. A molar may have three or four.
Same visit · 60–90 min
04
Filling the canals
Canals are sealed with gutta-percha and a sealer, then the access hole is closed with a temporary or permanent filling.
Same or second visit
05
Crown
A back tooth is crowned within a few weeks to prevent fracture. This is part of the treatment, not an extra.
2 – 6 weeks later
Before & after
Root canal cases from practices on this list.
Submitted by listed practices, with the patient's written release and the fee they actually charged.
BeforeAfter
Lower molar, four canals
Treated under a microscope in a single 90-minute visit, crowned three weeks later.
Duration
4 weeks
Fee charged
$2,760
BeforeAfter
Front tooth after trauma
Darkened years after a childhood accident. Root treated, then internally whitened rather than crowned.
Duration
6 weeks
Fee charged
$1,540
BeforeAfter
Retreatment of a failed root canal
Original treatment had missed a canal. Reopened, the missed canal located and sealed, symptoms resolved.
Duration
8 weeks
Fee charged
$3,180
Individual results vary with your diagnosis, anatomy and healing. Fees shown are what those specific patients paid at those specific practices and are not a quote. Photography on this page is licensed stock imagery, not photographs of the patients described.
Cost & insurance
What root canal treatment costs in 2026.
Ranges below are the 25th–75th percentile of fees published by listed practices. Any dentist we match you with has agreed to give you a written quote before treatment.
Treatment
Typical range
With 0% plan
Front tooth (incisor/canine)Usually one canal
$900 – $1,300
$0Usually insured
PremolarOne or two canals
$1,000 – $1,500
Bundled
MolarThree or four canals
$1,200 – $1,800
$99/mo18 months
RetreatmentRedoing a previous root canal
$1,400 – $2,400
Add-on
Crown afterwardsEssential on back teeth
$1,100 – $2,300
$95/mo24 months
Core build-upIf little tooth structure remains
$250 – $500
Add-on
Always price the root canal and the crown together. A $1,400 molar root canal that needs a $1,900 crown is a $3,300 decision, and that is the number to weigh against extraction and an implant at $3,100–$5,800 — which is closer than most people assume until they see both totals.
What insurance usually covers
Root canals are usually covered at 50–80% as a basic or major service, after your deductible.
The crown is claimed separately and usually at 50%, which consumes your annual maximum fast.
Retreatment is sometimes excluded within a few years of the original, so check before you commit.
Split across calendar years where you can — root canal in December, crown in January, two annual maximums.
FSA and HSA funds cover this in full — it is a qualified medical expense.
In-house 0% plans at 6–24 months, offered by roughly two-thirds of listed practices.
Third-party financing at 24–72 months, typically 9.9%–17.9% APR once the promotional window ends.
Dental school clinics run 40–60% below private fees, with longer timelines and supervised residents.
Get it itemised, in writing — every time
Every component on a separate line. It is the only way two quotes ever become comparable, and every practice on this list has agreed to give you one before you pay a deposit.
Payment calculator
Work out the monthly number before you walk in.
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Estimates only. Actual approval, APR and term depend on the practice, the lender and your credit. Promotional 0% offers are usually deferred-interest products — if the balance is not cleared inside the promotional window, interest may be charged retroactively from the purchase date. Always read the credit agreement.
Compare your options
Root canal, extraction, or leave it?
This is the decision that matters, and the arithmetic is closer than people expect once the crown and the replacement are both priced.
Ask to see every option planned. A dentist who only ever recommends one route, regardless of the scan, is worth a second opinion.
Root canal + crown
Extraction + implant
Extraction, leave the gap
Total cost
$2,000 – $4,100
$3,300 – $6,450
$180 – $650
Keeps your own tooth
Yes
No
No
Time to complete
4 – 6 weeks
4 – 7 months
1 visit
Preserves jawbone
Yes
Yes
No
Long-term success
90 – 95% at ten years
94 – 98% at ten years
Neighbouring teeth drift
Insurance coverage
Usually good
Partial at best
Extraction covered
Best when
Enough sound tooth remains to crown and the root is intact
The tooth is cracked below the gum or the root is fractured
Almost never — the gap costs more later than it saves now
How to judge a practice
Four things that separate a good practice from an average one.
None of this is marketing gloss — each one measurably changes how predictable your result is. Ask the practices you shortlist which of the four they actually have.
Imaging
They show you the images
A practice that turns the monitor towards you and walks through what it is actually seeing is a practice that expects to be questioned.
Ask to see your own scan
Pricing
A written, itemised quote
Every fee on its own line, handed over before you pay a deposit. Every practice we list has agreed to provide one.
Non-negotiable on this list
Volume
They do this often
Skill compounds with repetition. Each listing shows how many cases of this type the practice has completed in the last two years.
Case counts shown on every card
Aftercare
Someone answers afterwards
A named contact for the week after treatment, and a written policy on what a redo costs if something is not right.
Checked at every renewal
Inside the network
What a listed practice looks like.
We visit or video-audit every practice before it goes on the list — the operatory, the sterilisation room, the imaging suite and the front desk that will handle your insurance claim.
The operatoryChair, imaging and delivery unitSecond surgerySo urgent cases aren't bumpedSterile protocolAudited at every renewalThe front deskFiles your claim, not youStreet levelParking and access checked
Free consultation
Tell us the situation. We'll do the calling around.
Send this once and up to three matched practices near you come back with a written fee for the root canal and the crown together, plus their next available appointment if you are in pain.
Our Austin care team — 11 people, none on commission
1. You send the details
Ninety seconds. Your ZIP, what you need, and your insurance if you have it.
2. We shortlist and forward
We pick the three strongest matches on distance, case volume and price transparency — then send them your case.
3. You compare in writing
Three written estimates in your inbox within two business days. Pick one, or none.
Care team hours (Eastern Time)
Monday – Friday7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday8:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Open now — median callback time 41 minutes
Get up to 3 written estimates
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FAQ
Root canal questions, answered straight.
Reviewed by our clinical advisory panel in January 2026. General information, not a diagnosis.
Still deciding?
Talk it through with a care coordinator before you book anything. They don't work on commission and they can tell you when this is the wrong call.
The treatment is done under local anaesthetic and should be no more uncomfortable than a large filling — the reputation comes from an era before modern anaesthetics and rotary instruments. What genuinely hurts is the infection beforehand, and most people notice that pain lifting within a day. Mild ache and tenderness to biting for two to four days afterwards is normal and responds to ibuprofen.
On a back tooth, yes. Removing the pulp and shaping the canals leaves the tooth more brittle, and molars take enormous chewing load. Published data consistently shows root-treated back teeth without cuspal coverage fracture at a much higher rate. Front teeth with minimal structure loss can sometimes be restored with a filling instead — ask which applies to yours.
Ninety to ninety-five percent at ten years for a first-time treatment on a tooth that has not fractured. Failure usually comes from a canal that was missed, a crack that was not visible at the time, or bacteria re-entering through a leaking restoration — which is another argument for having the crown placed promptly rather than living in a temporary filling for a year.
Front teeth and simple premolars are routine general dentistry. Molars, retreatments and anything with unusual anatomy are what endodontists do all day, usually under a microscope. Cost differs by maybe twenty to forty percent; success rates on difficult teeth differ by more. If a general dentist refers you on, that is good judgement rather than a sales step.
You can, and sometimes you should — a tooth cracked below the gum line or with a fractured root is not savable and no amount of root canal treatment will change that. But price it honestly: an extraction is cheap on the day and expensive over a decade, because the gap either gets filled at $3,100–$5,800 or the neighbouring teeth drift and the bite changes. Compare total cost, not today's cost.
A thin sheet that isolates the tooth from the rest of your mouth during treatment. It keeps saliva and bacteria out of canals that are being disinfected, and stops small instruments being swallowed. It is the standard of care for endodontics, and a practice that does not use one for root canal treatment is cutting a corner that directly affects your success rate.
Pigment from the old pulp tissue can stain the dentine from inside, and it happens most visibly on front teeth. It is cosmetic rather than a sign of failure. Internal whitening — bleaching gel sealed inside the tooth for a few days — usually resolves it for $300–$700, which is far cheaper than a crown and removes no tooth structure.
Usually yes. Retreatment involves removing the previous filling material, finding whatever was missed, and re-sealing. It costs $1,400–$2,400 and has a slightly lower success rate than a first attempt, but it is very often worth trying before extraction. Where retreatment is not possible, a small surgical procedure at the root tip is sometimes the alternative.
Imaging
Pricing
Volume
Aftercare
