Endodontist or Dentist - Which makes the right choice?

While all endodontists are dentists, less than three percent of dentists are endodontists. 
When it comes to having root canal treatment, the field of dentistry offers two options. Either your
regular dentist can perform your work, or else a specialist. The formal term for a root canal specialist is
"endodontist." The main difference between the two lies in the level of expertise they have to offer.
Endodontists are specialists in saving teeth, committed to helping you maintain your natural smile for a
lifetime. Their advanced training, specialized techniques, and superior technologies mean you get the
highest quality care with the best result — saving your natural teeth! When it comes to your tooth's
work, there's no factor that's more important than its ultimate success. And it seems logical to speculate
that the added expertise that a specialist has to offer will favorably influence the outcome of the
treatment they provide.
Endodontists Have Advanced Education
To become specialists, endodontists have two to three years of additional education in an advanced
specialty program in endodontics after  completing four years of dental school. They focus on studying
diseases of the dental pulp and how to treat them
Endodontists Have Specialized Expertise
By limiting their practice to endodontics, endodontists focus exclusively on treatments of the dental
pulp. They complete an average of 25 root canal treatments a week, while general dentists typically do
two. Endodontists don't place fillings or clean teeth — they dedicate their time to diagnosing and
treating tooth pain. They are skilled specialists in finding the cause of oral and facial pain that has been
difficult to diagnosis.
Endodontists Are Experts in Pain Managament
Endodontists use specialized techniques to ensure patients are thoroughly comfortable during their
treatments. They are experts in administering numbing medications, especially in patients who
traditionally have problems getting and staying numb. In addition to treating you comfortably, patients
will be relieved of tooth pain after their treatment when the pulp infection or inflammation heals.
Endodontists Use Cutting-Edge Technologies
Endodontists have materials and equipment designed to make your treatment more comfortable and
successful. They use a small sheet of latex called a dental dam to isolate the tooth during treatment,
protecting the rest of your mouth. Digital radiographs and 3-D imaging allow endodontists to take
detailed pictures of tiny tooth anatomy to better see the root canals and any related infections. The
space inside root canals is smaller than FDR's ear on the dime! Endodontists use dental operating
microscopes to better see inside the root canals to thoroughly treat them.
Special circumstances.
a) Troublesome teeth.
Of course none of the above rules of thumb should apply to teeth where your dentist has identified
factors that suggest that the level of skill needed to complete your tooth's work lies beyond their
capabilities. Whether or not this fact is identified before or during treatment, it only makes sense that
the tooth's work should be referred to an endodontist for completion.
b) Strategically important teeth.
We'd also suggest that in cases where a tooth is vitally important from a standpoint of associated dental
work, and that tooth's root canal treatment seems even remotely challenging (probably more likely in
cases involving upper premolars or any molar), that referral to an endodontist as a way of helping insure
the most predictable outcome makes sense.
As examples, this type of scenario might include teeth that (currently do or are planned to) support a
dental bridge or removable partial denture. Or teeth whose replacement by an implant might be
esthetically challenging.
c) Retreatment success rates.
Beyond just cost and inconvenience, the importance of weighing the above considerations is supported
by the fact that success rates for root canal retreatment are somewhat lower than for a tooth's original
work.
Rates run lower on the order of 6 to 8% for conventional retreatment (just redoing the tooth's original
work, the method used with most cases) and 22% when surgical intervention is needed (Elemam 2011).
At least a part of the difficulty associated with retreatment is that in some situations its outcome may be
hampered by previous mismanagement of the case (iatrogenic factors). So with a vitally important
tooth, completing its treatment to the highest standards the first time may make all the difference.
(Either by making the need for retreatment less likely, or if needed, more likely successful.)