Stop the pain and save the tooth — usually in a single visit, at 1455 Broadway in Hewlett.
If you need a root canal, Hewlett dentists Dr. Inessa Murdakhayeva and Dr. Regina Murdakhayeva can usually stop the pain and save the tooth in a single visit. A root canal has a far worse reputation than it deserves — most of our patients tell us it felt about the same as having a filling done, and the throbbing ache that brought them in was gone by the time they walked out.
In pain right now? Call (516) 226-9160. We hold time open each day for urgent cases and will do our best to see you the same day.
On this page
We hold time for patients in pain rather than booking you out three weeks. Sunday hours too.
An itemized estimate with your insurance applied, before treatment starts.
Dr. Inessa and Dr. Regina treat you themselves, start to finish.
Inside every tooth is a soft core called the pulp — nerve tissue and blood vessels that kept the tooth alive while it developed. When decay, a deep crack, or an injury lets bacteria reach that pulp, it becomes inflamed or infected. That is what produces the deep, radiating ache that over-the-counter painkillers stop touching.
A root canal removes that infected pulp, disinfects and shapes the narrow canals inside the roots, and seals them so bacteria cannot get back in. The tooth stays in your mouth and keeps doing its job. The alternative is almost always extraction, which then leads to a bridge or an implant — more appointments, more cost, and never quite the same as the tooth you were born with.
The pain people associate with the procedure is really the pain of the infection that makes it necessary. Modern anesthetic, rotary instruments, and digital imaging have changed the experience substantially. The American Association of Endodontists makes the same point: patients who have had one are six times more likely to describe it as painless than patients who have not.
Not every toothache means you need one. These are the signals worth calling us about:
Some teeth need treatment with no symptoms at all — the infection shows up on a routine X-ray before you ever feel it. That is one of the practical reasons to keep up with regular exams and cleanings.
Recognizing any of these signs?
Do not wait it out. We hold urgent slots every day we are open — including Sundays.
Knowing the sequence takes most of the anxiety out of it. Here is how a root canal runs at our Hewlett office.
We take a digital X-ray and test the tooth to confirm the pulp is the source and to map how many canals the tooth has. Front teeth usually have one; molars often have three or four. You see the images on the screen with us and we explain what we are looking at before anything is decided.
We use a topical gel first so you barely feel the injection, then local anesthetic. We do not start until the tooth is fully numb — we test it and we ask. If you are someone who dreads dental work, tell us at the start; we go slower and talk you through each step.
A small opening is made in the top of the tooth. The inflamed pulp is removed, the canals are cleaned and disinfected, and they are shaped so the filling material can seal them completely. This is the longest part of the visit and it is also the quietest — there is no drilling sensation once you are numb.
The canals are filled with a biocompatible material called gutta-percha and sealed. A temporary or permanent filling closes the opening.
A treated back tooth becomes more brittle and almost always needs a crown to stop it from fracturing. We plan this with you up front so the cost is never a surprise. Front teeth sometimes need only a filling.
Most single-canal teeth are finished in one appointment of about sixty to ninety minutes. Complex molars or teeth with significant infection are occasionally split across two visits.
During the procedure, no — you are fully anesthetized, and the sensation is pressure rather than pain. Afterwards, expect the tooth and the surrounding gum to feel tender or bruised for two to four days, similar to how a joint feels after a knock. Over-the-counter ibuprofen handles it for the large majority of patients.
What people almost always notice is the contrast: the severe, relentless ache of the infection is gone immediately. If discomfort is getting worse rather than better after a few days, call us — that is not normal and we want to look at it.
Nervous about the pain?
Tell us when you book and we will walk you through exactly what you will feel, step by step.
This is the question we get asked most often, usually by someone comparing the price of a root canal against the price of pulling the tooth. On the day itself, an extraction is cheaper. Over five or ten years it is usually the more expensive choice, and it is almost always the worse one.
When a tooth comes out, the bone that used to support it begins to resorb. The teeth on either side drift into the gap and the opposing tooth drifts down, which changes your bite and makes the neighboring teeth harder to clean. Filling that gap later means a bridge, which involves cutting down two healthy teeth, or an implant, which involves surgery, months of healing, and a higher total cost than the root canal and crown would have been.
Keeping your own tooth also keeps the periodontal ligament, the thin layer of tissue that lets you feel pressure when you bite. No replacement reproduces that. A tooth treated with a root canal and protected with a crown behaves like a normal tooth.
There are cases where extraction genuinely is the better answer, and we will tell you when that applies: a tooth cracked vertically down the root, one with too little structure left above the gum line to hold a crown, or severe bone loss from advanced gum disease. In those situations we talk through implant restoration and bridge options, and we will not push a root canal on a tooth that cannot be saved.
An infected pulp does not heal on its own. The pain may fade for a while once the nerve dies, and people often take that as a sign things improved. The infection is still there, spreading into the bone at the tip of the root. Over weeks or months it can form an abscess, damage the surrounding bone, and in rare cases spread into the tissues of the face and neck, which becomes a hospital problem rather than a dental one. Waiting also narrows the options: a tooth that could have been treated in one visit can become one that has to be removed.
Cost depends on which tooth is involved. A front tooth has one canal and is the most straightforward; a molar has three or four and takes considerably longer, so it costs more. Whether you need a crown afterwards is the other main variable.
We are a fee-for-service and PPO practice, and we are in network with fourteen plans — Aetna, AlwaysCare, Ameritas, Anthem, Cigna, Delta Dental, GEHA, Guardian, Humana, Lincoln Financial, MetLife, Principal, United Concordia, and United Healthcare. Most dental plans cover endodontic treatment at somewhere between fifty and eighty percent once your deductible is met. We do not participate in Medicaid or Medicare.
Before we begin, you get a written estimate with your specific plan applied, so you know your out-of-pocket number in advance. If you do not have insurance, our membership plan covers your preventive care and discounts treatment, and we offer third-party financing. Full details are on our financial information page.
DNTL SPOT is owned and run by two sisters — Dr. Inessa Murdakhayeva and Dr. Regina Murdakhayeva. You are treated by an owner-dentist, not whoever is rotating through this week, and the person who diagnoses you is the person who treats you.
Want the number before you commit?
We give you a written estimate with your insurance applied, before any treatment starts.
Dental anxiety is the main reason people put off treatment, and a root canal carries more of it than almost any other procedure. A few things make a real difference to how the appointment goes.
Tell the front desk when you call that you are nervous. It changes how we schedule you, and it is one of the more useful things you can say.
Eat on the other side until the permanent restoration is placed, especially if you have a temporary filling. Brush and floss the tooth normally — keeping it clean matters. Take ibuprofen as directed on the label for the first couple of days, and finish any antibiotic if one was prescribed.
Call us if you have swelling that is increasing, pain that is worsening after seventy-two hours, your bite feels high or uneven, or the temporary filling comes out. A properly treated and crowned tooth routinely lasts decades; the American Dental Association notes that treated teeth can last a lifetime with good care.
Ready to get this handled?
Pick a time online in under a minute, or call and speak to the front desk.
Our office is at 1455 Broadway in Hewlett, on the border of the Five Towns, with free parking directly outside. Patients travel to us for root canal treatment from Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Inwood, North Woodmere, Lynbrook, Far Rockaway, East Rockaway, Atlantic Beach, and Valley Stream — most of them a ten to fifteen minute drive.
The Sunday hours are there deliberately. A tooth that starts hurting on Friday night does not have to wait until Monday, and Sunday appointments mean you do not have to take time off work for treatment. If you are a new patient, you can read what to bring and what the first visit involves on our new patient resources page.
Ready when you are
Do not wait out tooth pain — infections do not resolve on their own, and the tooth is easier to save early. Check live openings online, or call and speak to someone at the front desk.
1455 Broadway, Hewlett, NY 11557
(516) 226-9160
Monday & Wednesday 9:00 AM–5:00 PM · Sunday 9:00 AM–3:00 PM
