How long does a root canal take, and can it be done in one trip?

The appointment itself

A root canal is endodontic treatment: the infected or damaged nerve inside a tooth is removed, the space inside the root is cleaned and shaped, and it is then sealed. The point of it is to keep a tooth that would otherwise have to come out.

Here, a root canal appointment is ninety minutes. That is the time set aside for the treatment itself, not including waiting or paperwork, and it is carried out by a visiting endodontics specialist rather than by a general dentist.

What often follows it

A root canal is frequently not the end of the work. A tooth that has had one is more brittle than it was, and it often needs a post to support a restoration and then a crown to protect it. Those are separate treatments with their own appointments.

A dental post appointment here is thirty minutes. A crown is two appointments of about forty minutes each, because a crown has to be made between the visits. So the honest answer to "can it all be done in one trip" is that the root canal itself can, and the full restoration usually cannot.

This is the single most useful thing to establish before you travel, and it is why the first consultation exists.

If a previous root canal has failed

A tooth that was treated before can become reinfected or fail to settle. Retreatment means reopening the tooth, removing the previous filling material, cleaning the canals again and resealing them.

It is a longer road than a first treatment. Here it is two appointments of about an hour each, so it is not something to plan around a single day trip.

Planning the trip around it

Work backwards from when the appointment ends rather than when it starts, because that is when you join the queue to cross back. A ninety minute appointment that finishes into the busiest part of the day can add more to your journey than the treatment took.

Our border wait times page shows the current queue for both driving and walking, and how it usually varies through the day. Walking across is frequently much faster than driving.

Start with a consultation

None of the above tells you what your particular tooth needs. That requires an examination and X-rays, which is what a consultation is for. It is 50 USD here and X-rays are included.

What you get out of it is a plan: what the treatment is, how many appointments it takes, and how to schedule them. If you are travelling for this, that plan is worth more than any article.