Hello everyone,
I am new to the forum and I have concerns about my infected root canal.
I have a root canal and a crown on tooth #4 that was done about 2 years ago. I am 25 now if that matters. 2 weeks ago I had pain every time I would chew on that side where my crown is at and the pain got worst every day.
It wasnt a super awful pain but it was still bothering me a lot!
I went to the general dentist last friday and he said it may be infected however the x-ray didn't show an infection. He also said there may be a possible fracture by just looking at the post inside my tooth. He said the post seems to be very deep in my gums =( I guess the previous dentist didn't do a good job when putting the crown.
The dentist prescribed antibiotics (amoxicillin) and felt wayy better in 2 days and he also referred me to an endodontist.
So I went to the endodontist today and he performed several test on the tooth and came to the conclusion that is infected and said that is affecting my sinuses too.
He also said that the tooth may be fractured because he can see some bone loss =( and mentioned the dentist who did my root canal probably had a hard time doing the root canal..i dont know how he can tell.
Anyway he wants to do a root canal retreat and said he will also check for a possible fracture. He said he cant see the fracture by just looking at the x-ray.
Now my question is this...why would i get another root canal if at the end the tooth may be fractured and it will get pulled out.
Is there another procedure that he can do just to check if the tooth is fractured instead of doing a root canal first? I feel its a waste of time and money for me of course if at the end I will lose my tooth anyway =(
The worst part is that I am about to lose my dental insurance and my next app is until October 18th so I will def not have it by then. The retreat said it was $227 with insurance so Im guessing that it will cost approx $850 without insurance since I am only paying 20%. This is sooo frustating!
Should I have him do another root canal? Should I call again and ask if he can check if there is a fracture before doing anything else?

Any help I will appreciate it.

Hi tyndi,

Root canal therapy does not cure an infected tooth. It is done to allow the patient to retain their tooth for an undetermined amount of time. It is inevitable that the tooth will need to be removed at some point. When a dentist tells a patient that root canal will "save" their tooth it does not mean cure it means retain or keep.

The ENT has already confirmed that the sinus may be involved. This is typical of what happens with upper teeth that are root canaled as the infection spreads beyond the tooth. Re treating the tooth will not cure the infection inside of the tiny canals that cannot be cleaned out. Therefore the infection will continue to invade the sinuses. Not to frighten you but to inform you..... your brain is only about 4 inches from the root of this tooth. It is possible for the infection to spread to that area also.

The only way to cure the infection and try to eradicate it from the sinus is to remove the tooth. Anything else is just putting a band aid on a potentially serious infection.

You mentioned two other things.... one a post and two a fracture. It is common for a post to perforate a fragile root canaled tooth causing the tooth to fracture. This issue in of itself is a source of infection.

The antibiotic will temporarily subside the symptoms because it reduces the inflammation but it will not cure the problem. It is best to have this tooth removed while you are on the antibiotic. It is best to have an oral surgeon remove this tooth and clean out the infection rather than a general dentist.

I hope this information is helpful to you.
Bryanna

I can chime in on this one as bryanna knows.....And it happens to be the same tooth. I like you had pain in tooth number 4 and it got worse and a little bit worse, I was told the exact same thing, the dentist said he suspected a fracture in the tooth root and to get a RC and crown too. This tooth was so bad I almost fell to my knees when I ate on the tooth. I have been reading this forum for 7 months and my tooth number 13 same tooth opposite side of my mouth had a RC and Onlay several years ago, eating a piece of bacon it snapped on the gumline. Thank god no pain, had the extraction and vowed right then and there I will never have another RC again. This tooth number 4 I had to get used to the idea of losing the tooth, there was no other option, why do I want to go thru what I did on the other tooth 13 years down the road. I had it extracted and have no regrets. I only regret I didnt get a partial made first instead of now, its only been 8 days since my extraction. With all the furture problems that happen with root canals I just dont see the sense in torturing our body. An implant is less than a RC and Crown, I found one for 1200. total. RC's are just a future problem, ie breaking off at the gumline when eating a great piece of bacon. I am glad I follow bryanna and it just re-assures my decision every horror story I hear, ie failed rc, pain, absesses, breakage, not to mention the poison were putting in our body. If I hadnt found bryanna and this site I might have believed the dentist, just slipped off his tounge so easy RC and Crown, no problem, HAH...my extraction for this tooth was a good choice the dentist pulled it out and immediatly showed me 4 cracks on the tooth, which werent on the xrays, he was the 4th dentist I went to for my diagnosis.....I had a total of 3 advil after the extraction easy easy recovery, I am choosing to get a partial its only 300.00 until the bone grows in, in a year. Hopefully you make the right decision I have no regrets

Thanks so much for replying!

I am considering to have them extract the tooth eventually. I have to wait at least 3 months for my husbands new insurance to kick in. Im going to wait until then to have the tooth extracted and have an implant put in. Im going to pray that the pain dont come back until then and that further complications arise =(
Quick question Bryanna, is there any way that they can find out if I have a fracture on the tooth by doing any other procedure than the root canal?
and also what is ENT?
I hate root canals! I never want to deal with them ever again!
Thank you sooo much! =)

Hi tyndi,

Fractures can be hard to detect. However, root canal therapy is NOT the way to detect them. They can sometimes been seen on an xray or on the actual tooth after it has been extracted.

I am thinking that the remark the dentist made to you about the post being deep may be his way of saying the post has perforated or cracked the side of the tooth and that is why is suspecting a fracture. Just so you know.... posts are not placed in the gum. They are drilled directly into the center portion of the root of a tooth. They are meant to create some retention in a sick fragile tooth. Ironically, posts only made the tooth more fragile and make it prone to fracturing.

An ENT is a Ear Nose and Throat physician.

I hope you never have to deal with this problem again too!

Bryanna

Bryanna,
what about a root canal under a crown? Should I give up the crown and have it pulled...not much time to decide.Very nervous.

Randall,

A root canal is done the same on every tooth.... with or without a crown.

The root canal will not cure an infected tooth because there is no access to the microscopic canals which means they will always have infected nerve tissue inside of them. Eventually the bone around the tooth will become infected as well.

Did you just have the crown put on recently? If so, you may be able to ask your dentist to reimburse the money that you paid for it if you have the tooth pulled.

Bryanna