Not all root canal procedures are equal, and the complexity of the procedure depends on the extent of a patient’s root canal. Root canal therapy removes infected tissue from within the root canal. Most patients’ canals are single tubes, but the canal can branch into several tubes and out into the surrounding bone. A general dentist can do simple root canal treatments, but if the canal branches into several tubes, the therapy should be referred to an oral surgeon. An oral surgeon must perform an apicoectomy if the root canal fails to remove the hard-to-reach infected tissue. If a dentist fails to remove all of the infected tissue from the canal, the treatment will eventually fail, and infection will return.