What are alternatives to endodontic treatment?

When the pulp tissue of the tooth is damaged, the only alternative to endodontic treatment is to extract the tooth. To restore the area of the missing tooth in order to have function and prevent shifting of the remaining teeth a bridge or implant may be required.

This requires either surgery or alteration of the adjacent teeth, which is much more expensive and time consuming in most cases than endodontic treatment and restoration of the natural tooth. No matter how effective tooth replacement procedures are (they can be very effective), nothing is as good as a natural tooth.