An endodontist is a dentist with additional training in the pulp and the tissues around the root. The familiar procedure is root canal treatment. The same training covers retreatment when a previous root canal is not controlling infection, and some surgical procedures when the problem cannot be reached through the crown of the tooth. The specialty is not a guarantee that the tooth will be kept.
Pain in a tooth can be a dying pulp. It can also be a crack, a gum infection, a sinus, a high bite, or muscle pain that the patient feels as a tooth. The endodontist's examination is valuable because it is willing to say that the pulp is not the source. A root canal started on the wrong tooth, or on a tooth whose real problem is a split root, does not become correct because it was thorough.
Referral makes sense when the anatomy is difficult, when a previous treatment has failed, when the diagnosis is uncertain, or when the restorative plan depends on knowing whether the tooth can be kept. It also makes sense to refer back, or not to start, when the tooth is not restorable. A completed root canal still needs a seal and often a covering restoration. The endodontist does not finish that part by cleaning the canals.
If you have been told you need a root canal and you are unsure, the useful questions are which findings support it, what the alternatives are including extraction, and what symptoms should bring you back if you wait. Waiting is sometimes reasonable for a tooth that is not infected and not increasingly painful. It is not a plan for swelling or for pain that is waking you.
