Post root canal issues
 

Hoping someone can help, I had a root canal done a few months ago, recently started having the worst pain ever went to the dentist he took xrays and seems either there is some root left behind or a it seems a file have broken off in off canals which by the look of the xrays seems to be the case due to how straight it is and might be trAppin some neres. I have been given two options and not sure what to do, either see a specialist and see if the can remove it or get the tooth extracted? Can any help?

Tanja,

I'm sorry you are in pain and having so much trouble with your tooth.

Your dentist may not have told you that a root canal procedure does not remove the roots. Instruments are used to scrape the inside of the roots in an attempt to remove nerve tissue inside of them. But the roots of the tooth are still present in the bone. The only time the roots of a tooth are removed is when the tooth is extracted.

Every tooth has many hundreds of tiny microscopic canals that are not accessible. Therefore these canals will continue to contain dead infected nerve tissue which leads to further infection and inflammation.

In addition to that, it sounds like the dentist may have broken off a metal instrument inside of a root. That broken file will cause further infection, inflammation and eventual decay at the site of the file. Attempting to remove the file can cause the file to perforate the tooth and get lodged into the jaw bone.

Your dentist may not have told you that all root canaled teeth are chronically infected irrelevant of how well or how poorly the root canal procedure is done because those tiny canals will remain infected and because there is no longer blood supplying the tooth nutrition. The tooth is non vital and unhealthy.

The only means of curing an infected root canaled tooth is to remove the source of the infection which is the tooth and the root system. The tooth is fragile and infected so the best option would be to see an oral surgeon and not a general dentist should you decide to have the tooth extracted.

To help you understand the proliferation of infection in your tooth, I am attaching a diagram of the anatomy of a tooth. It is clearly labeled and shows the number of tiny canals, called dentin tubules, that each tooth contains. Those canals contain dead infected nerve tissue which is what will keep the tooth infected.

Please see the attached diagram. Please also let us know how you are doing.

Bryanna