By the Dental Team (MDS), JKKN Dental College & Hospital · Reviewed by the Admission Office · Published 30 July 2026 · Last updated 30 July 2026
Quick answer (52 words): Braces move teeth into alignment over a long treatment relationship measured in months to years. Root canal treatment saves a tooth whose nerve is infected or dying, usually across a small number of visits. Dentures replace missing teeth and involve several appointments with laboratory work between them.
This page is general information, not advice about your teeth. Nothing here can tell you whether you need any of these treatments, how long yours would take or what it would cost. Only an examination can, and this page will point you to one rather than pretend otherwise.
What it can do is take the mystery out of the three treatments people most often search by name, so that you arrive at the examination able to ask something useful.
Braces: moving teeth takes time
What it is. Orthodontic treatment applies gentle, continuous force to teeth so that bone remodels around them and they move into better positions. It is done for appearance, and it is also done because badly aligned teeth are harder to clean, wear unevenly and can load the jaw joint poorly.
What it involves. An assessment with records — usually photographs, impressions or scans, and radiographs. A treatment plan. Appliances fitted, most commonly fixed brackets and wires, sometimes removable appliances or aligners depending on the case. Then regular adjustment appointments. At the end, a retention phase, which matters more than most patients expect.
How long. Genuinely varies, and anyone quoting you a duration before seeing your teeth is guessing. It is measured in months to years, not weeks, and the honest answer for your case comes from the assessment.
The part people underestimate. Retainers. Teeth drift back. The retention phase after the appliance comes off is not optional, and treatment that was worth years of appointments can be undone by a retainer left in a drawer.
Who does it. Orthodontics is a specialist discipline. At a college hospital, treatment is carried out by students under supervision or by postgraduate residents and consultants in the department, depending on the complexity.
Worth knowing. Adults are treated too. Orthodontics is not a children-only discipline, and the number of adult patients has been rising for years.
Root canal treatment: saving a tooth
What it is. Inside every tooth is a soft tissue containing nerves and blood vessels. When it becomes infected or dies — through deep decay, a crack or trauma — it causes pain and infection that will not resolve on its own. Root canal treatment removes that tissue, cleans and shapes the canals, and seals them, so the tooth can stay in place.
The alternative is extraction. That is the actual choice: keep the tooth by treating inside it, or remove it. Which is right depends on the tooth, and on how much sound structure is left.
What it involves. Diagnosis, usually with a radiograph. Local anaesthesia. Access to the pulp chamber. Cleaning and shaping the canals. Filling and sealing them. Then a restoration on top — often a crown, because a treated tooth is more brittle and needs protecting.
How many visits. Usually a small number rather than one, and it depends on the tooth and how much infection is present. Molars have more canals than front teeth and take longer.
The two things patients most often get wrong. First, it is done to stop pain, not to cause it — the procedure is carried out under anaesthesia, and the pain people associate with root canals is generally the infection that led to it. Second, the treatment is not finished when the canals are sealed. A tooth left without its final restoration can fracture, and then the whole effort is wasted. Go back for the crown.
Who does it. Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics is the department. It is among the most common treatments carried out in a college hospital.
Dentures: replacing missing teeth
What it is. A removable appliance replacing missing teeth. Complete dentures replace a full arch. Partial dentures replace some teeth and are held by the remaining ones.
What it involves. Several appointments, and the reason is laboratory work. Impressions are taken, a laboratory constructs stages of the denture, and you return for try-ins and adjustments between each stage. It cannot be compressed into one visit, and a place offering to do so is worth asking hard questions of.
After fitting. New dentures take getting used to. Speech and eating feel different for a period, and follow-up adjustment appointments are a normal part of treatment rather than a sign something went wrong. Expect them and attend them.
The alternatives. Bridges and implant-supported options exist, with different costs, different requirements and different maintenance. Which is suitable depends on how many teeth are missing, where, and the state of the bone and remaining teeth. That is an examination question.
Who does it. Prosthodontics. At a college hospital the laboratory is usually on site, which is one of the practical advantages of the setting.
What about cleaning
The fourth thing people search, and the shortest answer.
Professional cleaning removes hardened deposits that brushing cannot, and it is the treatment most likely to prevent everything else on this page. Gum disease is silent until it is not, and by the time teeth loosen a great deal has already happened.
If you have not been examined in a long time and are not in pain, this is the appointment to make. It is the cheapest and the most useful.
The three, side by side
Useful mostly for understanding why they feel so different as experiences.
Braces | Root canal | Dentures | |
|---|---|---|---|
The problem | Teeth in the wrong position | An infected or dying nerve inside a tooth | Missing teeth |
What treatment does | Moves teeth gradually | Removes the tissue, cleans and seals | Replaces what is gone |
Length of relationship | Longest — months to years | Short — a small number of visits | Medium — several visits with laboratory work |
Urgency | Rarely urgent | Often urgent, and gets worse if left | Not urgent, but delay causes drift |
What happens if you wait | Usually nothing worsens quickly | Infection spreads; the tooth may become unsaveable | Neighbouring teeth drift and bite changes |
The aftercare that decides success | Wearing the retainer | Getting the final restoration | Attending adjustment appointments |
Department | Orthodontics | Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics | Prosthodontics |
The row worth reading twice is the last but one. In every case, the thing that decides whether the treatment was worth it happens after the interesting part is over — a retainer, a crown, a set of adjustments. Those are the appointments people skip, and skipping them is how good treatment turns into wasted treatment.
What is the same across all three
An examination comes first. Every one of these treatments starts with someone looking at your teeth and usually taking a radiograph. No plan, duration or cost is real before that.
Ask what happens if you do nothing. A good clinician will tell you honestly, including the cases where waiting is reasonable.
Ask about the alternatives, including the cheaper one and the one that does nothing.
Ask what the total is, including laboratory work and materials, before treatment starts.
Complete the course. A half-finished root canal, an abandoned orthodontic case or a denture never adjusted are each worse than not starting.
At a college hospital specifically
Three practical differences from a private clinic, all covered in more detail in our patient's guide to a dental college hospital.
It takes longer. More appointments, and each one longer, because teaching happens alongside treatment.
More people look at your case. A student's work is assessed and signed off, and complex cases get consultant input as a matter of routine rather than as an escalation.
Departments are in one building. If your root canal needs a crown and your bite needs orthodontic assessment, both departments are along the corridor.
Bring your questions written down
A small habit that changes the quality of the appointment.
People arrive with questions and leave without asking them, because a dental chair is not a comfortable place to think. Writing four or five down beforehand costs nothing and gets you a far more useful examination.
Reasonable ones to start from: what is actually wrong; what are my options including doing nothing; what does each involve and how many visits; what does each cost in total; what happens if I wait six months; and what would you do.
Ask them before treatment begins, not partway through. And if an answer is unclear, say it is unclear — nobody is judging your vocabulary, and a clinician who cannot explain a plan in plain words has not finished explaining it.
What this page cannot tell you
Being explicit, because this matters.
Whether you need any of this. Only an examination can establish that.
How long yours would take. Duration depends on your teeth.
What it would cost. Charges vary by procedure, material and department, and we hold no verified current schedule to publish. Ask at registration, and ask for the total including laboratory work.
Whether your pain is urgent. If you have severe uncontrolled pain, facial swelling that is spreading, difficulty swallowing or bleeding that will not stop, that is not a page-reading situation. Seek care now.
To ask about an appointment here, use the contact page or call 9345855001. We are on NH-544 at Komarapalayam, Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu 638183.
Frequently asked questions
How long does orthodontic treatment with braces take?
It varies with the case and is measured in months to years rather than weeks. Anyone quoting a duration before examining your teeth and records is guessing. The retention phase afterwards, with a retainer, is part of the treatment and not optional.
Is root canal treatment painful?
It is carried out under local anaesthesia and it is done to relieve pain rather than cause it. The pain people associate with root canals is usually the infection that made the treatment necessary in the first place.
Do I need a crown after a root canal?
A tooth that has had root canal treatment is more brittle and often needs a crown to protect it, particularly a back tooth. The treatment is not complete when the canals are sealed, and a tooth left without its final restoration can fracture.
How many visits do dentures take?
Several, because a laboratory constructs the denture in stages with try-ins and adjustments between them. It cannot be done properly in a single visit, and follow-up adjustment appointments after fitting are a normal part of treatment.
Can adults get braces?
Yes. Orthodontic treatment is not limited to children, and adult patients are common. The assessment is the same: records, a plan, appliances, adjustment appointments and a retention phase.
Can this page tell me what treatment I need?
No. This is general information, not advice about your teeth. Whether you need treatment, which treatment, how long it would take and what it would cost can only be established by a clinical examination.