An endodontist is a dental specialist who focuses on the inside of the tooth — the pulp and root canals — and on saving teeth that might otherwise be lost.
In practice, an endodontist is the specialist a general dentist refers difficult, failed, or complex root canals to.
Becoming one takes at least a 24-month residency after dental school (CODA's published minimum), and the work is heavily reliant on the surgical microscope and advanced imaging.
What is an endodontist?
An endodontist is a dentist who has specialized in endodontics — diagnosing and treating problems of the dental pulp (the soft tissue inside the tooth) and the tissues around the tooth's root.
The signature procedure is the root canal, but the specialty is really about relieving tooth pain and saving natural teeth.
Where a general dentist performs routine root canals, an endodontist handles the difficult ones — molars, retreatments of failed canals, and complex cases — using magnification and imaging that make delicate work possible.
What does an endodontist do day to day?
The core work is root canal therapy, especially the cases general dentists refer out: complex anatomy, molars, and retreatment of root canals that didn't heal.
Beyond that, endodontists diagnose hard-to-pinpoint tooth pain, treat cracked teeth and dental trauma, and perform endodontic microsurgery such as an apicoectomy (removing the tip of a root).
The work is technology-intensive — the surgical operating microscope and cone-beam CT imaging are central — and precise, often on a single tooth for an extended appointment.
Because most cases arrive by referral, the practice runs on relationships with the general dentists who send them.
Endodontist vs. general dentist (when GPs refer)
Plenty of general dentists perform root canals themselves, particularly on straightforward front teeth.
The endodontist is where the hard cases go: molars with complex canals, teeth where a previous root canal failed, unusual anatomy, and diagnostically tricky pain.
A GP typically refers when a case exceeds their comfort or the tooth is worth the specialist's higher success rate — the classic "when to refer" decision.
The endodontist's magnification, imaging, and focused experience are what make saving a difficult tooth more predictable.
How you become an endodontist
The path is dental school plus an endodontics residency.
First you become a dentist — a bachelor's degree, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and licensure.
Then you complete an accredited endodontics residency — CODA's published minimum is 24 months of full-time study — mastering microsurgery, advanced diagnosis, and the microscope-driven techniques the specialty depends on.
Board certification comes from the American Board of Endodontics (ABE) — see how the three-stage ABE process works.
It's a referral-driven specialty, so building relationships with general dentists is as much a part of the career as the clinical training.
See the step-by-step guide to how to become an endodontist or the deep dive on what the endodontics residency actually requires.
How much does an endodontist earn?
Endodontists are among the higher-earning dental specialists, but there's no endodontics-specific federal wage figure — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics groups the role under "Dentists, all other specialists" (SOC 29-1029), whose median is about $224,990 per year (OEWS, May 2025).
That category combines several specialties, and salary aggregators put endodontists specifically toward the higher end, though their estimates vary enormously.
Ownership, referral volume, region, and case mix drive real earnings, and most endodontists own or partner in practices, so pay blends clinical work and practice profit.
Treat any figure as directional and check current listings; to browse roles, see endodontist jobs.
Endodontist pay figures are directional