Endodontist Ashby-de-la-Zouch · Leicestershire
Root canal treatment, retreatment of failed root fillings, emergency care for severe toothache and careful diagnosis of tooth pain — endodontic care for Ashby-de-la-Zouch and the surrounding villages, under magnification and with time to listen, so that you keep your own tooth.
Arrange an appointment online, or ring the practice to speak to someone directly.
Ring 0116 270 0550 and tell us it is urgent. Acute toothache and emergency root canal treatment are seen as a priority.
Emergency root canal careEndodontics explained
Under the hard outer layers of every tooth lies a living core of nerve and blood vessels. Decay that has crept deep, a filling that has begun to leak, a crack or a blow can open the way for bacteria; the pulp becomes inflamed, then dies, and infection makes its way down the root into the bone.
Endodontics is the branch of dentistry dedicated to this interior space. Root canal treatment, the retreatment of root fillings that have failed, surgery at the root tip and the care of cracked and injured teeth all aim at one thing: clearing disease from inside the tooth so that the tooth itself can stay.
The practice focuses on this field exclusively. Your dentist remains responsible for your general care and places the final crown or filling; we treat the root canal problem and keep them fully informed.
Our treatments
Root canal treatment for the first time, retreatment of teeth treated elsewhere years ago, surgery where it is needed, and careful assessment of cracks, injuries and pain that no one has been able to explain — each beginning with a clear diagnosis.
Root canal treatment takes away the pain of a dying nerve, removes the infection inside the tooth and lets you keep the tooth. For patients in Ashby-de-la-Zouch it is performed under magnification, with the tooth fully numbed and isolated, usually in a single visit.
Learn moreA root filling can fail long after it was placed, but that rarely means losing the tooth. Retreatment removes the old filling, cleans the whole canal system — including any canal overlooked the first time — and seals and restores the tooth again.
Learn moreCanals can be thinner than a bristle and hidden under hardened dentine. The operating microscope gives a bright, magnified view inside the tooth — and it is how every root canal treatment and retreatment at the practice is carried out.
Learn moreWhen infection lingers at the root tip and cannot be treated through the crown of the tooth, a minor procedure under local anaesthetic — an apicectomy — removes the infected root end and seals the canal from the outside. Carried out under magnification, it is a predictable way to keep a tooth that would otherwise be removed.
Learn moreA sudden, sharp pain when biting that vanishes the moment you let go is the signature of a cracked tooth. Cracks do not heal and progress with every meal, so the earlier the assessment, the more options remain for saving the tooth.
Learn moreA fall, a sporting collision or an accident can chip, loosen or knock out a tooth in a moment. The first hour makes a great difference, and follow-up over the following year protects the nerve inside the tooth.
Learn moreToothache misleads more often than people realise: it can seem to come from the wrong tooth, the opposite jaw or the ear, and not every ache means a nerve has died. Good care starts with an accurate diagnosis.
Learn moreAn infection inside a tooth is cut off from the bloodstream — and therefore from your immune system and from antibiotics. That is why an abscess comes back again and again until the tooth itself is treated.
Learn moreEverything we offer in one place, including microsurgery, cracked tooth assessment, dental trauma care and a second opinion when you have been told a tooth must go.
Browse all treatmentsUrgent care
Pain that starts of its own accord, lingers after a hot drink or wakes you at night means the nerve inside a tooth is inflamed or dying. Painkillers dull it for a few hours; they do not treat it, and an untreated abscess can spread.
Tell us that your symptoms are urgent when you contact us. We will arrange the earliest appointment we can, deal with the pain at that visit and plan the remaining treatment calmly.
Seek medical help without delay if a swelling is spreading quickly, you have trouble swallowing or breathing, or you feel very unwell — call NHS 111 or go to A&E.
Your pathway
We listen to how the pain behaves, examine and test the teeth and take the X-rays needed to confirm the cause. Recent X-rays from your dentist save repeating them.
The findings, the recommended treatment, its likely success and the fee are explained and handed to you in writing. Nothing goes ahead until you are ready.
With the tooth numbed and isolated, the canals are measured, cleaned, disinfected and sealed under magnification — most teeth in one appointment.
Your dentist fits the crown or filling recommended in our report, and the healing of the bone is checked at a later review.
Why precision matters
A molar’s canals can be finer than a bristle, bend sharply and branch unexpectedly. When a root filling fails it is usually because a canal was missed, cleaned short or sealed imperfectly — faults of visibility rather than care.
Under magnification with bright, direct light the floor of the tooth is seen in detail: concealed canal openings, hairline cracks and remnants of old filling material all become visible, and the access cavity can be kept small.
Electronic measurement finds the end of each root precisely, flexible instruments follow the natural curve of the canal and activated irrigation carries disinfectant into side branches that no file can enter.
None of this replaces judgement. Diagnosis and an honest opinion of the tooth’s prospects come first; precision then delivers the plan.
A second opinion
An abscess, a failed root filling or a canal that defeated someone else is not in itself the end of a tooth. Many teeth dismissed as hopeless can be treated or retreated and kept for years to come.
Some, it is true, cannot be saved — a root split along its length, or too little sound tooth to carry a crown. When that is the case we say so plainly, because treating a tooth with poor prospects is not in your interest.
You receive a written assessment of the realistic options and the likely success of each, so that whatever you decide, you decide it with the facts in front of you.
MSc Endodontics
About
Angel Ognemirov holds an MSc in Endodontics from the University of Chester and undertook training in oral and intravenous dental sedation at Guy's Hospital in London. He is also certified in Restorative Dentistry and belongs to the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry (SAAD).
A good deal of his work is with people who find the dentist genuinely frightening. His response is practical: appointments that are never hurried, a plain explanation before each step, anaesthetic checked before anything begins and the freedom to pause at any moment. Patients who have avoided treatment for years are seen without judgement.
Clinically, his priorities are an accurate diagnosis and a fair chance for every tooth — magnification for each root canal, modern technique as the norm and a candid written opinion of what the tooth can be expected to do. Patients come from Ashby-de-la-Zouch and the surrounding villages, by referral and directly.
Questions patients ask
The questions we hear most often, with straight answers. The patient guides take each subject further.
Not when the tooth is properly numb, and we check that before beginning. You will feel pressure and vibration rather than pain; if anything sharp comes through, we stop and add more anaesthetic. A bruised feeling for two or three days afterwards is normal.
Generally 60 to 90 minutes. Most of the time is spent cleaning every canal to its full length — the part that decides whether the treatment succeeds.
Most teeth are finished in a single visit. A badly infected tooth, a retreatment or unusual anatomy may be dressed with medication and completed a week or two later.
Because canal openings are tiny and often hidden. Upper molars frequently have a fourth canal that goes unnoticed without magnification, and a missed canal is the most common reason a root filling fails.
Usually, through retreatment: the old filling is removed, any missed or re-infected canals are cleaned and the tooth is sealed again. If the root tip cannot be reached from inside the tooth, microsurgery is the alternative.
In most cases, yes. Clearing the infected tissue from the canals and sealing them allows the bone around the root to heal. A split root or too little remaining tooth are the exceptions — and we will tell you which applies.
Expect some tenderness for a few days, eased by ordinary painkillers. Your dentist then fits the final crown or filling, ideally within a few weeks, and healing is checked on an X-ray at review.
Most back teeth do: a root-treated molar without cuspal coverage is liable to crack. Some front teeth can be restored with a filling. Our report to your dentist includes the recommendation.
Not always. Cracked cusps, gum problems, sinus congestion and jaw muscle pain can all masquerade as toothache, and pain is often felt in the wrong tooth. Testing before treating protects you from treating the wrong one.
Tenderness on biting, a swelling or a gum boil, a bad taste or a tooth that has darkened are the usual signs — though many infections are silent and show only on an X-ray. Toothache that suddenly stops usually means the nerve has died, not healed.
In the UK “specialist” is a protected title, used only by dentists on the General Dental Council’s specialist list for endodontics. Whoever treats you, it is reasonable to ask how much of their work is root canal treatment and how they carry it out.
The infection stays in the bone and may flare up or spread. Symptoms tend to come and go, which is misleading, and the longer the tooth is left the harder it becomes to save.
Get in touch
Referred by your dentist, after a second opinion or in pain today — contact the practice and we will find the earliest suitable time. Mention urgent symptoms and you will be seen as a priority.
Severe pain or a swelling? Say so when you get in touch and we will see you as soon as we possibly can.
