Hello!

I had to have a first molar extracted last year after it got infected and after 2 root canals failing. Finally a dentist saw that I had a fracture in the tooth and he told me directly it couldn't be saved. I basically threw away all this root canal money.

Now I feel some discomfort in the other side, also the first molar, and I saw today that I have a vertical crack on the inside of the tooth which seems to go down to where the gum starts. I have no fillings there, so the crack is not very dark, but I can see it is there. It hurts a bit sometimes when chewing, but mostly it feels just "weird", like if I had something stuck between gum and tooth.
I was at a routine control last week and the dentist didn't comment on this at all. She also took a panoramic x ray and everything "was fine".

I'm extremely scared of this tooth going the same way as the old one, and I can't afford to miss two first molars! It'll be very hard to chew.... (I have no money to replace the molar I lost now)
Also, I'm only 30 and have an overall good mouth health, I don't want to miss 2 teeth!

I should mention I grind my teeth and bite my cheeks heavily in my sleep a lot due to lots of stress, and I'm considering a protective mouth guard.

I don't know what to do, why did my dentist not mention this crack? I mean, if I can see it she must have been able to as well! I want to trust that everything is fine as she says but this crack is freaking me out. Should I get it checked by some specialist instead? Which kind of specialist?
I'm by now developing dental anxiety and dentist phobia, feel very lost and scared.

So what should I do?

Massive thank you to anyone who might have knowledge about this !!