3 weeks ago I noticed a bump above my upper right back molar (#2) that had a root canal done over 5 years ago. It was only vaguely sensitive to touch and not sensitive to hot/cold at all. My dentist said I could have the root canal redone or have it extracted. Meanwhile, I took antibiotics which have really been hard on me in other ways - also, I'm breastfeeding a one year old so I hate to take medicine anyway.
2 weeks later, I went to the endodontist I was referred to. The bump I noticed originally was gone after I finished 10 days of the antibiotic. My x-ray showed a little inflammation but no signs of bone loss or fracture, etc. After the exam, the endodontist said he could retreat and perhaps there was a fourth canal that was missed the first time. I still did not have a lot of pain at the time. They scheduled the root canal for a few weeks later.
Now I've been off the antibiotics for over a week and for several days I've noticed that I have pain during and after chewing. Still not a lot of pain while flossing/brushing and only a tiny bit of sensitivity. Tonight I noticed that something felt weird on my tooth, like a popcorn kernel was stuck so I started flossing and brushing that tooth more and just realized that the crown is loose and threatening to fall off.
I am going back and forth about what to do....part of me just wants to extract it but I'm so afraid of losing teeth so young. (I'm almost 36)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.