Hi There,
In 2010 I had a fall and broke my front tooth. At the time a root canal was done and a crown placed on the remaining tooth. I was told a lot of my teeth in the front had shifted as a result of the fall and that only over time would I know if any of them would turn into 'dead' teeth.

In 2011 the second front tooth had started to discolour. I was told that it had turned into a 'dead' tooth as a result of the fall. A root canal was done on this tooth too, and an internal bleach was done to lighten the colour. However over the next few months the tooth kept getting discoloured again and was told there is no other solution other than putting a crown on it too.

In 2012 I visited a different dentist who removed the crown (on the broken tooth), shaved the discoloured tooth down and placed 2 new crowns on front teeth in order for the colour of the teeth to aesthetically match.

Now in Dec 2013 I noticed the gum above my broken front tooth seemed unusually swollen near the tooth root. It went unnoticed because it is under my lip and only if I pressed down on it would it have a numb pain. The dentist did an x-ray suggested antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, only if the pain got too severe. Last week I noticed a boil near the gum of that tooth, so the dentist suggested I start the antibiotics and he would do a re-root canal through the crown. Unfortunately the substance used by the original dentist for the root canal is not allowing him to drill through to the root again, and since he doesn't want to damage the crown, he has finally suggested an 'Apicoectomy'. The procedure sounds really scary!! is it??
I am really freaked out because this is my front tooth!! I just want to know if this means this tooth will be forever weakened and doomed?? What can I possibly do as a more permanent solution..?? I can't afford to keep going back to the dentist every year