Anyone ever have a root canal redone years after originally done ? I had a root canal done in my early 20s and now about 25-30 years later the tooth ( a back lower molar) is acting up. The dentist put me on antibiotics and the problem went away -- temporarily. Obviously the antibiotics addresses the symptom (infection) but not the root cause, therefore the infection returns. They took an x-ray and it indicated there was a little "cloudiness", a tell-tale sign of infection. I've been doing a little of my own research and have noticed this (root canal re-do) is not uncommon. Dentist also indicated there's a procedure where they drill through the gum to get at the base of the tooth rather than go through the top again. He wouldn't do this procedure; instead he would send me to a endodontist. I have an appointment on Monday. I was also thinking of asking him to take the crown off to see if there's decay under there that the X-ray didn't pick up. Curious if anyone else has been through this or if there's a dentist that can speak to it. Last thing I want is the tooth pulled but that may be what has to be done.
OT: root canal "re-do"
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One of my buddies, and fellow season ticket holder, is an excellent dentist. Here's his website: http://zeikdental.com/
Tell him you're an RU fan and that Mario sent you.
This post was edited on 3/6 10:07 AM by RuLaw2004
Zeik Dental
Tell him you're an RU fan and that Mario sent you.
This post was edited on 3/6 10:07 AM by RuLaw2004
Zeik Dental
I had the same issue years ago. The endodontist had to remove the cap and ended up drilling everything out with the intention of putting a screw in and replacing the whole thing. I opted to leave the hole there rather than fussing with it.
If you can live with it...I would extract it (if it's the very last molar and not seen) and not do anything to replace it.
"Fussing" with it will become very expensive.
"Fussing" with it will become very expensive.
Don't even, just extract it. It is cheaper and you never have to worry about it ever again.
Root Canals don't always work. It happen to me and it was awful.
After spending thousands, I ended up given up and getting extracted. The Dentist took mercy and extracted it for free, it was that bad.
Root Canals don't always work. It happen to me and it was awful.
After spending thousands, I ended up given up and getting extracted. The Dentist took mercy and extracted it for free, it was that bad.
I chipped a tooth biting on a rock that was in some curry chicken. It didn't hurt/wasn't visible so I forgot about it. It got infected a couple years latter. Got torn between canal/extraction options. While deciding, I used raw garlic ("Russian Penicillin") to fight infection. Its been 5 years and I'm still deciding lol. A tooth infection can kill you but I've felt better off using garlic for a week once a year than getting a root canal that might fail. I'll probably opt for an implant at some point. I make my dentists nervous but I've been doing that since keeping my wisdom teeth everyone said I had to get out (but have been fine).
This post was edited on 3/6 12:47 PM by RU0517581
This post was edited on 3/6 12:47 PM by RU0517581
I am around your age (45) and my advice is to have the tooth pulled and get an implant. I had a similar issue about 5 years ago - root canal, tooth acted up with regular infections, etc. I decided to pull the tooth and go full implant. It is expensive but in the long run was the right choice. I have another tooth with a root canal and crown for about 10 years and it is fine - this one had a series of infections and pulling was the best option. I believe you are too young still to just leave a hole in your mouth though so I would go with the implant if you have the dough. Mine cost about $3K out of pocket when it was all said and done but it took over 6 or 7 months to get the full procedure done as there is a waiting period after each step. Also - this is a periodontist process - do not see a regular dentist - they will likely just refer you to a peridontist anyway, potentially an endodontist. The key thing to look out for is bone loss around the area where you'll be implanting - needs a good base of bone to get the setting right from what I was told.
Don't understand what "redo" of a root canal means? I have had 3 and they involve killing and removing the nerves from the canals in the teeth involved so don't get what is being redone. A cap is then placed on the tooth. If the redo is because not everything was cleaned out when it was first done, then that sounds like a screwup by the dentist. If by redo you mean that the cap needs to be replaced, caps do need to be replaced at some time from either from age or cracking. Not a dentist, just someone who has had root canals.
That's why I asked to see if anyone has heard of it or has had it done. My dentist hasn't recommended it, I just googled it and found that it is an option in some cases presumably because the original procedure wasn't thorough enough and pulp was left in the canal that became infected years later. I don't know I'm just speculating. All I know is in my case there is an infection. Not sure if it's in the tooth, in the gums beneath the tooth or what but IK it's coming from this tooth that's already been root canaled many years back (xrays prove this).I know this particular tooth was RC'ed many years ago because my current dentist who I started seeing in 1988 has no recored of it so it was done before 1988. I'll find out more next week.
This post was edited on 3/6 4:20 PM by RUaMoose
As the resident dentist let me help.
RCT's are 95% successful. retreat/apico are 70% successful.
I like that your GP referred you to a specialist. Endodontists have all the latest techniques and equipment.
If the tooth can be saved, save it. You wouldn't cut your foot off if you had an ingrown nail? So please dont listen to the knuckleheads who advise 'just pulling it'. These people probably have awful teeth and are headed towards dentures.
With that said, your tooth may not be salvageable. It may fracture durring a retreatment, the retreatment may fail. If you do have it extracted because it is non restorable do get something to replace it. If not teeth will shift or grow into the pulled tooth's former location.
Numbers - stick to meteorology. You probably have a tooth that is draining puss into your mouth and hence it doesn't hurt. Eventually it will occlude and your face will blow up. Stop using medieval witchcraft and get your tooth fixed.
RCT's are 95% successful. retreat/apico are 70% successful.
I like that your GP referred you to a specialist. Endodontists have all the latest techniques and equipment.
If the tooth can be saved, save it. You wouldn't cut your foot off if you had an ingrown nail? So please dont listen to the knuckleheads who advise 'just pulling it'. These people probably have awful teeth and are headed towards dentures.
With that said, your tooth may not be salvageable. It may fracture durring a retreatment, the retreatment may fail. If you do have it extracted because it is non restorable do get something to replace it. If not teeth will shift or grow into the pulled tooth's former location.
Numbers - stick to meteorology. You probably have a tooth that is draining puss into your mouth and hence it doesn't hurt. Eventually it will occlude and your face will blow up. Stop using medieval witchcraft and get your tooth fixed.
This thread is right in my wheel house because I am a dentist with 30 years experience doing root canals, extractions and implants. In addition I am the clinical director/owner of a Group Dental Practice that has an Oral Surgeon, Endodontist and Periodontist on staff. So I have seen it all.
I will try to answer some of the questions of the OP and anyone that has questions.
Root Canal success rate is not 100% (actually 85-90%).
As occasionally happens with any dental or medical procedure, a tooth may not heal as anticipated after initial treatment for a variety of reasons:Narrow or curved root canals sometimes pose complications during the initial procedure.Complicated root canal anatomy (shapes and forms) went undetected in the first procedure.The placement of the crown or other restoration was delayed following the treatment, resulting in reinfection of the root canals.An inadequate seal of a restoration (filling) allowed recontamination of the inside of the tooth.
Some of these issues do not give rise to symptoms, but can give rise to chronic infection, often seen in an x-ray picture as a small black area around the end of an affected root. New problems too, can jeopardize a tooth that initially had successful root canal treatment. For example:New decay can expose the root canal filling material to bacteria, causing a new infection in the tooth.A loose, cracked or broken crown or filling can expose the tooth to new infection.A tooth sustains a fracture of the crown or root.And yes, the antibiotics can reduce the symptoms of a re-infected root canal but not cure it.
The only way to clear the infection is by doing one of these:
1: Redoing the root canal (best option for small infections)
2: Apicoectomy (cutting through the gumline and bone and scooping out infection directly - done on teeth where redoing the root canal is not a good option)
3 Extraction, Bone graft and Implant.
In our office we have a Cone Beam Xray which we use to get more info about the infected tooth. This is basically a 3D x-ray. Most general dentists don't have this x-ray. Many specialists do. The cone beam is the best information a dentist can get to help the patient and dentist make the best decision about treatment.
Whatever you do, don't just extract the tooth without a bone graft or you will lose 60% of the bone in the area. This will lead to more problems down the road if you choose to replace the tooth.
I had a similar situation with a lower jaw molar. The root canal ws done when I was in college. Twenty+ years later the cap failed and the roots of the tooth became re-infected The infection was severe enough that they needed to cut through the gum (Apioectomy) to clean out the infection and deteriorated bone tissue before the new crown could be applied. The repair work failed within a year and the specialist stated tht bone losss resulting from the multiple infections made firther repair an iffy proposition. It would have be 50/50 chance that any repair would fail within a year. I had them remove the tooth.
I still beleive thatif the bone loss is not too severe that it is better to save the tooth than to have it pulled A dental impant will runn between $3k - $4K (with bone graph). A co-worker has had several and he is having some trouble with the different sensation he gets when chewing iwith the implants. He equates it to trying to adjust to progressive lenses compared to bi-focals.
I still beleive thatif the bone loss is not too severe that it is better to save the tooth than to have it pulled A dental impant will runn between $3k - $4K (with bone graph). A co-worker has had several and he is having some trouble with the different sensation he gets when chewing iwith the implants. He equates it to trying to adjust to progressive lenses compared to bi-focals.
I had to get a root canal when I was about 12-13 and then when I was 17 the tooth snapped off right at the gumline when I was chewing gum one day. The dentist couldn't do anything so he referred me to an endodontist to do a crown lengthening procedure. The procedure itself wasn't terrible but there was a 2 week healing period which drove me nuts because of the stuff they had to leave in my mouth to allow everything to heal properly. Sounds like you're in a little bit of a different situation but overall everything went really smooth for me.
Imaging sucked back then. You had to go to an Endodontist because he (maybe) had the gear to pull it off the first time. Now regular Dentists have technology that people only dreamed about a few years ago. That's true of Medicine and almost everything else today though. You'll be fine this time and they will be reasonably certain of it before they let you out of the chair.
This is great info, especially the cone bean xray part. What is your office number in case I want to get a 2nd opinion? Thanks
Had it done 2 months ago. It was nothing like the original root canal although it took a few hours/sessions. The worst part was the excruciating pain I was experiencing from the infection. Once the infection was under control, the rest was no big deal. I would never have a tooth extracted if the structure of it is fine. I would also be selective in the endodontist.
RUaMoose, how did it go? I chipped a molar and have a Tuesday appointment with a dentist. Another question, how long a wait for an appointment do people have after contacting the dentist's office?
I had to get the sucker yanked yesterday. The dentist took one of those Xrays rutger81 alluded to and it showed under the crown the tooth was cracked in half vertically which is why it was getting infected. No recourse at that point but to extract it. Now I have no molars left on the lower left side (had the adjacent molar pulled years back.) so I am going to look into an implant
Teeth are a royal pain in the butt. When dentists talk about doing a bone graft, where do they get the bone material from? I am hoping that my tooth can be re-filled without complications.
This post was edited on 3/11 9:37 AM by Extra Point
If a wisdom tooth is pulled because it is broken, is it okay to leave the upper wisdom tooth alone that is in good enough shape? Or should the upper one be pulled as well since it won't have a mating lower tooth when chewing?
Interesting stuff, thanks for posting..
How common is it for people to have no pain when they have an infection. A couple years ago I had to go through the extraction (although there wasn't much tooth left), bone graft, and implant process. I was surprised about the infection to the jawbone because I literally had no pain whatsoever. I had always assumed this type of thing would have been very painful before it got that advanced.
"How common is it for people to have no pain when they have an infection"
Infections can be active but under the radar until they flare up in more noticeable way
Subclinical infection
Infections can be active but under the radar until they flare up in more noticeable way
Subclinical infection
I think you would have had pain if it was infected. Or an irritating feeling that would make you want to touch the area all the time. I am guessing that your jawbone wasn't that bad or they wouldn't have done the bone graft/implant.
That's an understatement. If there's a worse pain known to man than when infection hits the nerve of a tooth I'd like hear it. Worst pain I've ever had to deal with. This last incident (OP) involved a tooth that already had the nerve removed so the pain wasn't nearly as bad.
I am pretty sure they said it was infected. It could have been something else I supposed. I know they have to take out the remnant of the tooth, scrape away the decays/deteriorated parts of the jawbone, then added some sort of putty like material to my jawbone, and then I had to wait quite a while before they would do the implant (maybe 6 months or a year, can't remember exact amount of time). Was on antibiotics for a couple weeks after the initial surgery. They gave me pain medicine (hydrocodone maybe?) but I never used it because it didn't hurt.