Root canal or extraction and implant
Save the tooth, or pull it and replace it? The two options, side by side.
The short answer
Where a tooth can be saved, a root canal is the cheaper and quicker route: PKR 48,000 without a crown, usually one visit, and it keeps your own tooth. Extraction and an implant starts at PKR 170,000 and needs at least three months for the bone to grow around the implant. Extraction is the right answer when a tooth genuinely cannot be saved, not as a shortcut.
Prices are given in writing before treatment begins. Rates are reviewed each year.
Side by side
Price
Root canal (keep your tooth)
PKR 48,000 per tooth, without a crown. With a zirconia crown at PKR 58,000 the two come to PKR 106,000.
Extraction and implant
From PKR 170,000 with a PFM crown, PKR 230,000 with a zirconia crown. Bone grafting, where it is needed, is a further PKR 70,000.
Success rate
Root canal (keep your tooth)
95 to 100% over ten years and beyond. About 85 to 90% where the tooth already has infection in it.
Extraction and implant
95% at ten years and beyond, when the work is planned and placed with care.
Visits and time
Root canal (keep your tooth)
One visit, nine times out of ten. Infected teeth and some re-treatments need a 14-day antibiotic dressing, which is two visits.
Extraction and implant
At least three months for the bone to integrate. Follow-up at one week and one month, a second-stage impression at three months, and the crown fitted a week to ten days later.
What you keep
Root canal (keep your tooth)
Your own tooth, which usually stays in function indefinitely.
Extraction and implant
A replacement for a tooth that has been removed.
Planning first
Root canal (keep your tooth)
Consultation and X-ray at PKR 3,500, then a diagnosis and a plan before treatment starts.
Extraction and implant
A full history, an oral and X-ray examination, blood reports and a 3D scan of the jaw. Nothing is placed at the first visit.
How to decide
The question that decides it is whether the tooth can be saved. If there is enough tooth structure left and the full length of every canal can be reached, a root canal is the better choice on price, time and what you keep. If it cannot be saved, an implant is the replacement. The examination and X-ray show which one you are in, and you decide afterwards.
What sits behind each column
Why a root canal is done under a microscope
Magnification of up to 22-24× means canals are not missed and decay comes out completely. A rubber dam is used on every case.
Why an implant is never rushed
The implant is placed according to where the future tooth will be, rather than where the bone is, and a surgical guide is made from the scan.
If a root canal has already failed
Re-treatment is PKR 55,000 and succeeds in 85 to 90% of cases. Keeping your own tooth is usually both the cheaper and the quicker answer where it is possible.
Payment
Prices are given in writing before treatment begins. Instalments can be arranged, particularly for orthodontic and dental implant patients.
Common questions
Questions people ask about this choice.
01Is a root canal better than pulling the tooth and getting an implant?
A root canal keeps your own tooth, and at 95 to 100% success over ten years and beyond it usually keeps it in function indefinitely. Replacing an extracted tooth is a bigger undertaking: a dental implant with a crown starts at PKR 170,000 against PKR 48,000 for the root canal, and takes at least three months for the bone to grow around the implant. Extraction is the right answer when a tooth genuinely cannot be saved, not as a shortcut.
02How successful is a root canal, and how long will the tooth last?
The success rate is 95 to 100%. If the tooth already has infection in it that falls to about 85 to 90%, which does not reduce how worthwhile the procedure is. Those figures are for periods exceeding ten years.
03How successful are dental implants?
Practised with all caution, immaculate planning and precision, they are extremely successful, 95% at ten years and beyond.
04What if my root canal has already failed?
Re-treatment of a failed root canal is PKR 55,000, usually over two visits, and succeeds in 85 to 90% of cases. It is compared with an implant, which starts at PKR 170,000, once the tooth has been examined.
Ask before you decide, and get the price in writing.
Start with the X-ray. Examination, X-ray and diagnosis are PKR 3,500, and you decide afterwards.