Multicolored,

It sounds like the dentist did a fairly comprehensive evaluation of your tooth. The crack line could be very shallow at this point. Whether or not it gets deeper, no one can determine that at this time. The mouth is very sensitive to the slightest abnormality and that is what you could be picking up on.

I would say to be mindful of that tooth when you are eating. Think of it as if there was a bruise there and you want to let it heal. Sometimes we tend to get preoccupied with something that feels odd and need to back of of it for a bit. I'm not dismissing that you have a crack there or that there could be something going on. But at this stage, nothing significant is being picked up so there is not much you can do but to deliberately protect it and see what happens.

Yes, get the mouth guard asap because your clenching/grinding habit will make this situation worsen. So that is important to get done.

I also want to caution you about going to a "clinic" type dental office where there are various specialties going on. This may seem like an advantageous idea to become a patient of, however, these clinics are "generally" owned by a director (could be a doctor or dentist) who is motivated by production numbers and each dentist is an employee and is expected to meet a certain weekly or monthly quota. I know that sounds kind of awful when you think of it as health care.... but unfortunately healthcare is a big $$$ industry and we must not assume the business is run any differently than any other business.

Another word of caution.... there is no such thing as a a dentist who is an expert in difficult root canals. That is a marketing tactic. Endodontists are dentists who perform root canals as their specialty, just like oral surgeons perform oral surgery as their specialty. Each specialist has the benefit of having more practice or experience in their special areas. However, unlike oral surgery, a root canal procedure is basically done the same irrelevant of who does it... the "specialist" may be able to do it faster for various reasons, but the end result of any root canal procedure is the ultimately the same in that there are no means of making an unhealthy tooth, healthy again.

It is important that you go to whom ever you are most comfortable. Just be mindful of what is being expected of you to do before you give the go ahead.

Bryanna