<p>She’s not on the stranded Carnival cruise is she??? I hope not. I have a root canal question. I had a tooth ache on an upper molar, the dentist took x-rays and said that I needed a root canal on the tooth next to the one that was painful. This was done in November. There were 3 roots that had to be taken care of. I went for a followup with my dentist and everything seemed ok until 3 weeks ago. The pain returned, this time in the tooth that had the root canal! Anyone have any ideas? Of course, I am away for another month and have no dental insurance and hate to see a local dentist that I don’t know.</p>
<p>Marilyn, I also have autoimmune disorders. I was having dental issues and finally connected it to Sjogren’s. My dry mouth was causing all kinds of issues – just like in those Biotene commercials!</p>
<p>If the root canal was done properly, there should be no pain in the tooth because the nerves are removed and replaced with wood fibers or pulp. It is possible that you have pain below the tooth though, perhaps an infection. I think that they would treat that with something like a Z-Pack.</p>
<p>Did you have the root canal at the dentist or at the endodontist? My dentist refers difficult root canals out to an endodontist so there’s an automatic second opinion on the X-Rays and the endodontist has specialized equipment to do the work compared to my regular dentist.</p>
<p>ECmother–you might want to get a referral to an endodontist (root canal specialist) if you did not see one already. Sometimes an extra canal can be missed, your tooth has a vertical fracture, or the infection did not heal. Did you have a crown put on your molar?</p>
<p>On the off chance, the bite could be off or you could also have a new problem with a tooth on the lower jaw that bites against your upper one. </p>
<p>All needs to be checked out. If you are getting worse, best not to wait.</p>
<p>I had in infection after a root canal–the dentist said everyone is allowed one flare up. Antibiotics took care of it.</p>
<p>There’s usually a temporary crown put on after the root canal and a dentist usually removes the temporary crown and installs a permanent one during one or two separate appointments. I assume that you had the permanent crown installed but it would help to confirm that.</p>
<p>Usually a temporary filling is placed into the access hole of the root canal and the crown is done at a different appointment. </p>
<p>This might be different if the dentist doing the root canal is the same one doing the crown. Then the two procedures may be combined on the same day.</p>
<p>Approximately 2% of root canals fail despite the best treatment and intentions, even with specialists. Tooth fractures, infections that don’t heal, lateral canals, calcified canals can all contribute. No one’s fault, just dealing with a human body.</p>
<p>“If the root canal was done properly, there should be no pain in the tooth because the nerves are removed and replaced with wood fibers or pulp.”
-Never, ever happened to me with numerous root canals in my mouth. I ALWAYS had pain sometime for several months. However, you need to check with the dentist. He can take an X-ray to see if there is infection. However, with great sensitivity in my mouth, many of my infections (apparently minute ones, that I still was feeling) did not show on X-ray. X-ray has only certain resultion, apparently not as sensitive as my natural system. BTW, a cap is NOT a must on a tooth with the root canal. I have several that do not have a cap on them. My dentist would not file a tooth that is not broken or if I do not allow him to do so. Keep in mind, it is much better to have non-capped tooth.</p>
<p>You can have pain after a root canal due to trauma to the area or infection outside the tooth but, if the root canal is done properly, you can’t have pain in the tooth because there are no nerves in the tooth.</p>
<p>It does not matter where the pain, if you cannot chew on that side for several months.
There are other nerves in a mouth besides the nerves that have been extracted out of tooth. All tissues around your tooth have nerves and they are letting you know that they are upset. They might be healing or they might be telling you that there is still a problem, like infection. If it is at the tip of yout root, then from my experience, I ended up loosing these 2 teeth after several years of sensitivity to pressure / chewing. The X-ray did not show anything for a very long time, while I was feeling it in both of them. I have implant in one spot and another one is way on a back.</p>
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<p>Well, it does matter if you’re discussing it with others so that you can have clear communication. It also matters in how you address the pain.</p>
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<p>Yes. Which is why I was precise in my statement about pain in the tooth. Not under, above, around or adjacent to it.</p>
<p>The fact is that you really cannot tell. It feels like pain in a tooth, and that is the only thing you can tell your dentist, then it will be up to him to determine…while he might not be able to do so because of x-ray resolution. then, you are out of luck, just have ot wait and see.</p>
<p>…BTW, dentist has to drill the tooth again to clear infection at the tip of the root anyway. That is if he does not choose to cut thru the gum. I had it both ways.</p>
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<p>You may be able to tell a little more from other recent symptoms like a sinus infection, the effects of taking pain killers or the use of a camera that can look into your mouth.</p>
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<p>You should get a dentist with better equipment.</p>
<p>Thank you to all of the quick responses to my question. The tooth that had the root canal was one with an existing crown. I was referred to an endodontist who drilled through the crown and performed the root canal. He told me a fracture was possible, but was pleased with the results. He put in a temporary filling and I followed up with my own dentist who removed the temporary filling and put in a permanent one, (this was about 2 weeks after the root canal). The pain resolved for about 5-6wks, then I began to feel sensitivity while chewing). If I could take a vote on reasons, I vote for dentmom’s suggestion about the bite. Even though I am an ER nurse, I am a “white knuckle” dental patient! I think I will try to wait until I return back to CT in a couple of weeks. (I really am a chicken)!</p>
<p>MiamiDAP –</p>
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<p>I’ve had about 5 root canals on molars and have never had pain for more than a week or two afterwards. My dentist always sends me to a highly recommended endodontist. Is your dentist doing these root canals himself? If so, perhaps you should see an endodontist.</p>
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<p>My endodontist recommended that I have crowns put on all of my teeth that required a root canal. Perhaps this is one reason I have not had any pain or problems afterwards.</p>
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<p>I can’t imagine not putting a permanent crown over a root canal. Neither could my dentist and endodontist. I’m sure that some of their patients have done this but I’d suspect problems down the road.</p>
<p>Most teeth need a crown after a root canal, especially molars and bicuspids. However, front teeth that are injured and need a subsequent root canal do not always need a crown after.</p>
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The determining factor being the size of the existing restoration ( filling) in the tooth that had the root canal and the amount of stress from the occlusion(bite). The upside is that you get a crown that you might have been able to live without. The downside to not putting a crown on the tooth is the potential for a fracture that if it is far enough below the gum line you have to have crown lengthening procedure. If it fractures vertically (into two pieces) you need to have the tooth extracted and end up with a bridge or an implant. The crown ends up being a lot less expensive in the long run and when you do the risk-benefit analysis, I almost always recommend the crown on all root canal treated teeth.There’s less of a hassle and no one will second guess you for recommending. YMMV… JMNSHO…</p>
<p>jjdad: I agree that each tooth needs to be addressed individually; however, if there is no existing restoration in a front tooth before the RC, you may not need a crown. There are many variables that factor in to the decision/recommendation.</p>