Why Get a Root Canal if You Can Get an Implant?

Implants are a great alternative, however saving your natural tooth is always a better option in my opinion.  But it must be healthy and structurally sound in terms of tooth surface area and the surrounding bone which anchors it in place.  I would suggest a consultation with a good team of an Endodontist and a Periodontist along with your dentist, they will collaborate to determine what is best for you.  If a tooth has a diagnosis requiring a root canal, the nerve and blood supply are gone, however it still has a periodontal ligament which wraps around the periphery of the root and provides shock absorption.  An implant does not have this so it does not "feel like a tooth".  Keep in mind implants can potentially fail too if you don't keep up with good home care and maintenance.  Otherwise if a tooth has a poor prognosis deemed by the Periodontist, then an implant (or bridge) would be the other option.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

The success of root canal treatment is about 90-95%, the success of dental implants is 80-95% over 10 years.  With similar success rates it really depends on the situation.  Well done endodontic treatment saves the tooth and in the future implant therapy is quite easy.  However failed implants are a complex situation that requires multiple surgeries to address.  There is nothing better than a natural tooth and our focus should be to save teeth.  Having said all that I still have patients that do not want root canals because of bad previous experiences or beliefs, we do our best to educate and replace teeth with the most biocompatible ceramic implants.