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In my opinion I would go and see a respected endodontist to examine your tooth. You need someone specialized in the field to thoroughly see what is going on.
Also, when you say your tooth is irritated what type of pain are you having? Is it painful to hot, cold or pressure?
Last edited by legacy0133; 02-20-2010 at 12:23 PM..
I'm stuck in the same situation. I am 25 and been having too many problems since I got 1 root canal I ended up needing 2 more.now all my molars have rootcanals and 1 of them is still bothering me so I went back to the dentist and they told me my old dentist didn't sit the crowns right so now I have to redo the rootcanal so I'm very upset because I've spent over 5000$ and now I have to pay another 1000$ and wat happens if after this one it keeps bothering me.should I just pull it out ?
I am facing a similar problem. I had a root canal performed 10 years ago by an endodontist. Now the x-ray is showing a shadowing, so they are recommending a retreatment root canal. I will have to have the initial root canal cleaned out and then have a antiseptic packing placed for 10 days???? THEN, I will have to have the filling put in and a temporary crown placed for six months. They will reevaluate the shadowing/infection to see if it has resolved before placing the permanent crown. I'm concerned that this endodontist just did poor work the first time. I have family members who have never had to have a root canal redone. The tooth is back lower molar. I'm thinking I should just have it pulled, but I'm scared to do that. I just can't see redoing the root canal and hoping the outcome will be better. Why didn't it work the first time???
I'm in the same boat. Two root canals, one on each side upper at my general dentist. Both failed, redid both at a specialist endodontist, still failed. He is sure there is no infection but it still hurts all the time. He said it can take 6 months to a year to "settle down". I'm so frustrated, I too wish I had just pulled them both. No refund from either dentist or endodontist. What next. This is such a scam. I agree with pulling teeth and getting implants. The AMA or whatever regulates them should outlaw root canals as ancient tomfoolery.
Root canal treatments come with no guarantee. Root canals don't prevent your tooth from decaying further. They replace the root. Period. That's all they're supposed to do. The rest of the tooth is healthy, or not healthy, and will or will not decay just like anyone else's tooth will or will not decay.
If there's shadowing under the root canal, it means that the tooth has become unhealthy. It doesn't mean that the root canal failed. It -could- be that the root canal failed, but that isn't really the likely suspect. Fact is - any time you do work on a tooth, it weakens that tooth and makes it more prone to damage at some point during your life.
To kayleedee: ten years of health with a root canal tooth is a good period of time. There was no failure on your dentist's part, there was no scam.
However, I am concerned about the method of treatment you're claiming the dentist recommends. There's no need to wait 6 months for a permanent crown. The temporary crown is placed, just so that your tooth has something covering it, while the dentist waits for the permanent crown to be made by the lab. That typically takes between 2 weeks and a month.
If it were an implant, you might need to wait up to 6 months, because you'd be getting a screw drilled into your jawbone and that takes a lot longer to heal and for the bone to regrow around the screw (called a "fixture"). But not for a root canal.
Thanks, AnonChick, for the info. I do understand there are no guarantees, but 90% of root canals are successful and don't need further retreatment. The treatment plan my endodontist explained seemed strange to me as well. I've not heard of having to wait six months for the permanent crown to be placed. He obviously wants to make sure the infection is cleared before placing the permanent crown, but honestly he isn't instilling much confidence in the fact that it will resolve the first time around. The shadowing on my x-ray is small and my dentist said my body can clear that on it's own, once the tooth is cleaned out. I wasn't sure why I would need to have packing in place for 10 days and then go back again for the filling. I thought most retreatments could be completed in one visit. I never said this was a scam. I'm just trying to weigh whether the cost and procedure, given the lower success rate of retreatments, is really the best option.
Thanks, AnonChick, for the info. I do understand there are no guarantees, but 90% of root canals are successful and don't need further retreatment. The treatment plan my endodontist explained seemed strange to me as well. I've not heard of having to wait six months for the permanent crown to be placed. He obviously wants to make sure the infection is cleared before placing the permanent crown, but honestly he isn't instilling much confidence in the fact that it will resolve the first time around. The shadowing on my x-ray is small and my dentist said my body can clear that on it's own, once the tooth is cleaned out. I wasn't sure why I would need to have packing in place for 10 days and then go back again for the filling. I thought most retreatments could be completed in one visit. I never said this was a scam. I'm just trying to weigh whether the cost and procedure, given the lower success rate of retreatments, is really the best option.
Ah that does make sense, about the packing. The packing you're getting is medicated packing, it's meant to be temporary. They leave it in for a week or so, then they take it out and fill the hole up with a composite filling. That still doesn't explain a 6-month wait. Even an infection doesn't take that long to heal, nor does a cleaned cavity, there's no need to wait that long to "make sure" it's healed fine. At most, a month after they replace the medicated packing with the composite filling. That way, if there's any structural integrity issues, they can deal with it before they put on the permanent crown. But that still only means a month and a half tops, from the time they put the medicated packing IN.
I had to have the exact same thing, because just like you, I had a root canal that was fine, but a cavity erupted right next to it and it had to be redone. A pain in the butt - I swear some days I wanna punch all my teeth out, get dentures, and be done with it.
Also my response was to both of you (the two "K" people immediately above my post ) - one of you said it was a scam, and you both had similar issues.
AnonChick writes: "Root canal treatments come with no guarantee. Root canals don't prevent your tooth from decaying further. They replace the root. Period."
This is incorrect information. A root canal does not replace the root of a tooth. It removes the pulp and nerve inside the root canal. It attempts to remove the infection inside the tooth. It usually does not work to remove all the infection as the tooth is filled with small blood vessels which are impossible to remove. These can continue to harbor bacteria causing a continuous infection.
In a case like yours, it would probably be best to have the tooth removed as the infection will continue to cause problems and possibly spread to the adjoining teeth.
AnonChick writes: "Root canal treatments come with no guarantee. Root canals don't prevent your tooth from decaying further. They replace the root. Period."
This is incorrect information. A root canal does not replace the root of a tooth. It removes the pulp and nerve inside the root canal. It attempts to remove the infection inside the tooth. It usually does not work to remove all the infection as the tooth is filled with small blood vessels which are impossible to remove. These can continue to harbor bacteria causing a continuous infection.
In a case like yours, it would probably be best to have the tooth removed as the infection will continue to cause problems and possibly spread to the adjoining teeth.
AnonChick writes: "Root canal treatments come with no guarantee. Root canals don't prevent your tooth from decaying further. They replace the root. Period."
This is incorrect information. A root canal does not replace the root of a tooth. It removes the pulp and nerve inside the root canal. It attempts to remove the infection inside the tooth. It usually does not work to remove all the infection as the tooth is filled with small blood vessels which are impossible to remove. These can continue to harbor bacteria causing a continuous infection.
In a case like yours, it would probably be best to have the tooth removed as the infection will continue to cause problems and possibly spread to the adjoining teeth.
I stand corrected - I misspoke. It replaces the pulp that's in the root, not the whole of the root. Only the inside of it (which would be the nerve and the pulp, and not the dentin surrounding it).
But root canal treatments are not ALWAYS done only for infection - sometimes they're done to save a dead tooth, that has no infection at all. The medicated packing, WHEN it's used (which isn't always), is put in there exactly for the reason you suggest - to kill off the bacteria prior to a permanent filling.
I didn't have my tooth removed, I had a root canal treatment. In fact, I've had a few. Only one of them has given me any trouble at all, in the 25 years I've had root canal treatments in my mouth. MOST people have little, or no trouble, with root canal treatments for most of their lives, as long as they take care of them as directed - using floss, brushing twice daily, using an antiseptic rinse, and getting twice-yearly checkups.
Some people will have problems with them anyway, but most will not.
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) - one of you said it was a scam, and you both had similar issues.
