No endo in sight: P.E.I. residents have to travel off-Island for complex root canals

When Charlottetown resident Alan Gallant went to a dentist for a root canal, his travel costs ended up totalling almost as much as the procedure itself. 

That's because he had to go from P.E.I. to Halifax in order to see an endodontist, a dental specialist who handles treatments like complex root canals. 

While Gallant, 77, has a good dental plan and retirement benefits, he worries that others won't be able to afford the price tag associated with accommodations, gas and meals to travel outside the province. 

"I'm just concerned because I know some people [who] are getting close to my age here on the Island who just simply don't have the money," he said. "It's not just a cosmetic thing, it's a health thing. I consider root canals to be a medical issue."

P.E.I. currently has no endodontists after the one who was working here retired and left the province after about 10 years of practice. 

That means people like Gallant who need a complex root canal have to travel to a dentist in Moncton or Halifax for the procedure. 

While general dentists on the Island can handle simple root canals, endodontists specialize in more severe cases where the tooth pulp — the nerves, blood vessels and other tissues deep inside a tooth — are decayed, infected and causing pain.   

Brian Barrett, executive director of the Dental Association of P.E.I., said most endodontists seem to want to practise in larger centres, making it difficult to attract them to the province. 

"It's really unfortunate that we can't get them to come here, but for years we tried to," he said. "The endodontist who was here spent two years [travelling] all over Canada and North America trying to attract somebody to Charlottetown with no success."

In fact, Barrett said, there's a shortage of general dentists in P.E.I. as well, just as there is with most other health professions. 

Health officials with the provincial government did not respond to CBC's request for comment on the issue. 

While locals who need a anything but the simplest root canals will probably have to travel off-Island to get them, there is one benefit to doing so. Wait times are much shorter in Moncton or Halifax than they were when P.E.I. had its own endodontist, Barrett said. 

In the meantime, the dental association is continuing to try and recruit a specialist to work here by advertising with colleagues and medical schools in other provinces. 

Barrett said he's heard of endodontists in Ontario who are splitting their time between multiple clinics just to see enough patients, something they wouldn't have to worry about in P.E.I.