Root Canal or Extraction? Cost & Success Rates Compared

Root canal or extraction: save the tooth or take it out?

Short answer

Keeping your natural tooth is usually better for chewing and for the neighbouring teeth; extraction may be needed if the tooth cannot be saved. At Kashyap Dental & Aesthetics in Butwal, root canal treatment costs NPR 10,000 (single visit) or NPR 8,000–12,000 (multiple visits), and a simple extraction NPR 1,500, plus the cost of replacing the tooth. This guide is part of our root canal treatment in Butwal pages; see all dental prices in Butwal.

What does each path cost for one back tooth?

Path	Total (NPR)
Save it: single-visit RCT + metal-ceramic crown	17,000
Save it: multi-visit RCT + metal-ceramic crown	15,000–19,000
Take it out and replace it with a partial denture	3,000
Take it out and replace it with an implant	81,500
Take it out without replacing it	1,500

Totals add up the prices on our price list and use a simple extraction; a surgical extraction costs NPR 6,000. A crown is usually advised after root canal treatment on a back tooth.

What does the research say?

Root canal treatment: in pooled studies from 2003–2020, primary root canal treatment succeeded in 82% of cases by strict X-ray criteria and 92.6% by looser criteria (Burns et al., Int Endod J 2022). Implants, if the tooth is replaced: a 2019 meta-analysis found about 96% of implants were still in place after 10 years (about 93% when patients lost to follow-up were accounted for) (Howe et al., J Dent 2019).

Who decides?

At Kashyap Dental & Aesthetics, we always explore saving a tooth first, and we explain why an extraction is needed before doing it. Dr. Rekha Pandey (BDS) checks the tooth with an X-ray and explains both options and their costs before treatment starts.

Frequently asked questions

Is it cheaper to pull a tooth than to have a root canal?

The extraction itself is cheaper (NPR 1,500, compared with NPR 8,000–12,000 for multi-visit RCT), but replacing the tooth adds NPR 1,500 for a partial denture or NPR 80,000 for an implant.

Can a root canal save my tooth instead of an extraction?

If the tooth can be saved, yes. The dentist checks it with an X-ray and explains both options.