Endodontics is treatment of the nerve inside a tooth. Once that nerve is inflamed or infected it will not settle on its own. A root canal is what saves the tooth. Pearl32 Dentistry and Wellness holds same-day emergency slots every day we are open. Call (949) 830-0074.
Most people find this page at night, with a tooth throbbing. Start with the box.
Tonight, before anyone can see you
Go to a hospital emergency room tonight, not a dentist, if swelling is closing an eye or tracking down your neck. Same if swallowing or breathing gets hard. That is an airway problem before it is a tooth problem.
Every tooth has soft tissue at its center: nerve, blood vessels, connective tissue. Dentists call it the pulp.
Decay, a crack, a deep old filling or a knock lets bacteria reach it. The pulp inflames. It sits sealed in hard walls, so pressure builds against the nerve. That is the throb, and why it is worse at night.
Past a certain point the inflammation does not reverse. The pulp dies and the tooth goes quiet. People read that as the problem fixing itself. It has not. Infection moves out of the root tip into the jawbone and comes back as an abscess.
Antibiotics are not a way out. No blood supply is left inside the tooth to carry them in. They settle a facial swelling enough to make treatment possible.
We test before we treat: cold on that tooth and its neighbors, tapping, biting on a stick, an x-ray. A 3D cone beam CT goes further when a flat image cannot answer it. It finds a hidden canal, or a crack in the root. See digital dentistry.
People are frequently certain which tooth hurts, and wrong by one. Upper and lower molars refer pain to each other. So nothing here gets opened on a hunch.
A front tooth usually takes sixty to ninety minutes. A molar takes ninety minutes to two hours. Bring headphones.
The treatment is what stops the pain you already have. Most people are comfortable during it. The procedure’s reputation predates the anesthetic and instruments now in use.
Here is the honest part. A tooth in acute inflammation is harder to numb than a healthy one, and we allow for that. Supplementary injections go directly around the tooth when a standard block is not enough. You raise a hand if anything feels sharp, and we add more. Sedation is available.
Afterwards the tooth is tender to bite on for two to four days, sometimes a week. Over the counter pain relief covers that for most people. A few teeth stay sore longer. Come back rather than wait it out: the answer is often a small bite adjustment.
One or two for the root canal, then a separate appointment for the crown.
One visit suits a tooth that opens easily, with no swelling. Two suit a canal that will not dry, or a spreading infection. A medicated dressing sits inside between them.
We re-check with an x-ray at six to twelve months, as bone lost around the root tip fills back in.
Not because the nerve is gone. Because of what was already missing: the decay, the old filling, and the access opening. A back tooth flexes every time you bite, and thin walls eventually split.
A root split lengthwise cannot be repaired. That is the failure a crown prevents. So molars and premolars are crowned after a root canal. A front tooth with a small opening is often fine with a bonded filling.
Our in-house CAD/CAM mill cuts crowns from a ceramic block. A straightforward case is scanned, designed, milled and bonded in one sitting. See same-day crowns.
A temporary filling left for months leaks, and bacteria get back into the canals. It is a common way good root canal work fails. So the crown gets booked before you leave the chair.
Extraction is a real option, and it costs less that day.
Bone shrinks where a tooth used to be, and the first six months take the most. The tooth behind tips forward. The tooth above drops down. Your bite moves. A dental implant to replace it takes several months, and costs more than the root canal and crown would have.
If a tooth does come out, decide about the gap that day. A socket graft at removal holds the shape for a later implant.
One honest exception: a last molar with nothing behind it is sometimes reasonable to remove and leave. We will say so if that is your case. An infected tooth does not stabilize, so waiting is not a plan.
First time treatment on front teeth, premolars and most molars is done here. Three general dentists work at Pearl32 Dentistry and Wellness in Laguna Hills. Dr. Nojan Jahedmanesh, DDS, practices as a general dentist.
We refer sharply curved or calcified canals. We also refer retreatment of a failed root canal, and apicoectomy, which is surgery at the root tip. An endodontist does only this work, all day, under an operating microscope. We would rather send you there than claim we do everything.
You hear that before treatment starts, not halfway through.
Three things drive the figure. Which tooth it is, because canal count changes the work. Whether this is first treatment or retreatment. Whether a build-up and crown are needed. The crown is a separate charge, and both belong in one itemized written estimate.
In an emergency the first appointment is diagnosis: examination and x-ray, its own charge. You learn what is wrong before deciding anything. See emergency dentist.
Pearl32 Dentistry and Wellness accepts most major PPO plans, plus Delta Dental HMO. Benefits are checked first, and a pre-treatment estimate puts the insurer’s share in writing.
Without insurance, our membership plans run monthly across three tiers. Larger treatment can go through Cherry, CareCredit, Sunbit or Happen Bank, all subject to credit approval. See dental financing.
Street parking is free, and there are free spaces behind the building. The building is wheelchair accessible, with an elevator up to Suite 450. The Laguna Woods Village resident bus stops in our plaza. Patients also come from Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo and Lake Forest. Examinations and fillings sit under general dentistry.
Monday to Friday 8 to 5, closed weekends. Directions on the contact page. Dr. Nojan Jahedmanesh, DDS, holds a dental degree from Loma Linda University and a certificate in prosthodontics from UCLA. He practices as a general dentist. Pearl32 Dentistry and Wellness has been serving the community since 1994. Page reviewed September 2026.
