Jerry - thanks so much for your input. It's really helpful to know the bone isn't involved in root canal work.

My own experience was that when my former dentist was working on my root canal, the freezing wore off and he told me he couldn't give me anything else because he wasn't licensed to do so( maybe it's different here in Canada?). Possibly something got lost in translation but the result was that I had to spend 15 minutes or so with him trying to get the last tiny piece of nerve out with no freezing in place. yikes. not a nice experience.

I still think I will try and convince my husband to go to an endodonist. After all he's been through I don't want him to have my experience.

all the best
Mary