I have an unusual situation, I had a root canal and cap placed on my front tooth that broke about 4 years ago. Apparently the 1st dentist used a core that was too thin. Went to a second dentist and he could not remove the little piece embedded at the top but proceeded to put a new thick core along with my cap back.

It has broke twice because of the little piece stuck but now it is infected and I am very concerned. 1st I have not been feeling 100% and fear it is the infection (little pains in my neck and chest, very tired) and 2nd I will be flying at the end of April and I am worried the pressure may do something.

What are the symptoms I should be watching for? Should I be concerned about flying?

Thank you so much. I have been reading several posts and honestly I am not terrified!

Welcome Tammio.

Hi Tammio,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

I know this is your front tooth and you are scared but you do have a dental problem that needs attention before you fly because you do have an infection brewing in that root canaled tooth.

It's important to first know that root canaled teeth are chronically infected irrelevant of whether they have obvious symptoms or not. A root canal procedure is done to "retain" an unhealthy tooth, not "cure" the problem. The procedure cannot remove all of the infected nerve tissue from the tiny canals inside of the tooth so the dead nerves inside of these canals are a chronic source of infectious bacteria. In addition to that, any organ or tooth that is non vital is a source all in of itself of inflammation and infection simply because every organ, every tooth requires vitality to be healthy. A root canal procedure severs the blood vessel that fed the tooth nutrition, so the tooth becomes non vital instantly. So just to be clear, this tooth, although a symptomatic until recently, has been diseased for the last several years.

As for what the original dentist did or didn't due regarding the core build up, is irrelevant because the tooth was sick at the onset of the root canal and there was no restoration that was going to change that fact. So a thin build up lasted 4 years but as the tooth continued to break down from the infection, that build up was no longer able to hold the remnants of the deteriorating tooth. A thicker build up is not the answer because all it does it cause further pressure on the fragile tooth and it has no longevity because the tooth is deteriorating. I know this is hard to read... please know that it is not easy for me to be the one to tell you all of this. Your dentist irrelevant of his personal opinion on root canals, should have informed you of all that I am writing here.

This tooth is going to get progressively worse. The only attempt at curing the problem is to remove the source of the problem which is the tooth. You are in a time crunch and of course don't want to lose your front tooth and from my professional experience, your dentist will be reluctant to tell you to remove it but only for those two reasons. So I'm afraid you in a situation and have a decision to make sooner than later.

I would suggest that you speak to your dentist asap about all of this and discuss replacement options of that tooth. Otherwise you run the risk of a full blown infection while you are traveling.

Again, I am sorry to give you this news. I hope you are able to compose yourself and comprehend the true meaning behind it and without too much hesitation take action to take care of it.

Please check back with us.
Bryanna