The Tri-Cities Endodontic & Microsurgical Specialists

Take ibuprofen if you can take it safely, and take it on a schedule instead of waiting for the pain to come back. Sleep with your head propped up. Cold on the outside of your cheek helps some people, heat almost never does. Avoid anything very hot or very cold to drink. If the pain wakes you up, spreads along your jaw, or starts throbbing when you lie down, that usually points to the nerve inside the tooth, and it will not settle on its own. Call us as soon as we open.

Pain gets scheduled ahead of routine visits. When you call, say you are in pain and describe what it feels like. That description tells our front desk more than you would expect, and it changes where you land on the schedule. You can also request an appointment online.

Swelling is the line. A tooth that hurts is urgent but not dangerous. A face or jaw that is swelling, a fever, or trouble swallowing means the infection has spread beyond the tooth into the surrounding tissue, and that needs to be seen the same day, by us or at an emergency room if we are closed. Anything short of that can usually wait a day or two on ibuprofen, though waiting rarely makes the treatment easier.

An abscess is a pocket of infection at the tip of the root, formed when bacteria get inside the tooth and work their way down. It is what causes that deep, throbbing pressure and sometimes a pimple-like bump on the gum. Antibiotics can quiet it down temporarily, but they cannot reach the inside of the tooth, which is where the bacteria live. The infection comes back until the inside of the tooth is cleaned out. That is what root canal treatment does, and it is usually one appointment.

Not necessarily, and the detail that matters is how long it lasts. A quick jolt that fades in a second or two is usually sensitivity, often from a receding gumline or a worn spot. Cold that sets off an ache lingering thirty seconds or more, or pain that builds after the cold is gone, points to the nerve being inflamed. More on what cold sensitivity means and when it needs treatment.

Cracks are the hardest thing in dentistry to diagnose, because most of them do not show up on an x-ray at all. The usual sign is sharp pain on releasing a bite rather than on pressing down. Under a microscope at high magnification, a crack that was invisible on film is often plainly visible. Whether the tooth can be saved depends on how deep the crack runs, which is worth answering before anyone extracts anything. Here is how we diagnose and treat cracked teeth.

It happens, sometimes years later, and it does not mean the tooth is lost. A canal can be missed, a filling can leak, or new decay can let bacteria back in. Retreatment reopens the tooth, removes the old filling material, and cleans out what the first procedure could not reach. Bring your records if you have them, and we will tell you honestly whether the tooth is worth saving a second time.

This is the question everyone is really asking, so here is the honest version. The tooth hurts now because the nerve inside it is inflamed or dying. A root canal removes that nerve, which is why the procedure ends the pain rather than causing it. Getting a hot, infected tooth fully numb is genuinely harder than numbing a healthy one, and that is the part that takes skill. We plan for it.

It depends on the tooth. In many cases we place the final restoration ourselves before you leave, so no follow-up appointment with your general dentist is needed. When a tooth does call for a crown from your dentist, we coordinate directly with their office and send over everything they need.

Nitrous oxide sedation is available for an additional fee, and every appointment comes with the full comfort setup: Bose noise cancelling headphones, Netflix, a massage chair, sherpa and weighted blankets, and memory foam neck and knee pillows. Tell us you are anxious when you schedule and we will plan the visit around it.

We are out-of-network with all insurance plans, which means we do not bill your insurer directly. Our team helps you complete the paperwork so you can file with your plan and be reimbursed according to your out-of-network benefits. If you have questions about how your plan handles this, call our office before your visit and we will go through it with you.

It depends on which tooth it is and what that tooth needs, so a flat price posted here would be wrong half the time. What we can tell you is how you will find out. You get an exact figure before treatment begins, in writing, with nothing discovered afterward.

Yes, along with Erwin, Abingdon, and Johnson City. We are on Peoples Street, a few minutes off I-26, with parking at the door. For most of the region it is a shorter trip than driving to Knoxville. Directions and office hours are here.

Dr. Riley Sturgill or Dr. Colton Fischer. Both completed their endodontic training at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Fischer is a Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics and did additional microsurgery training at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Sturgill founded the practice, practiced general dentistry before specializing, and teaches in VCU's endodontic residency program. You will not be handed off to someone you never met.

Two to three years of training after dental school, spent entirely on the inside of the tooth. That is the difference. A general dentist may do a few root canals in a month. We do nothing else. Every case here gets a microscope and a 3D scan, which is not standard in general practice because that equipment is difficult to justify for occasional use. The difference shows up most on the cases that go wrong elsewhere. More on what endodontics covers.