is there anyway possible to avoid a root canal treatment to be done in ones mouth?????? this is what i mean. a filling fell out from one of my top molars and they tried redoing the filling but came to the conclusion that a root canal needs to be done in the future because the molar cracked and redoing the filling wont work anymore! if i had seen my dentist right away as i noticed that the filling had fallen out, would a root canal still be unavoidable or not????????????????? i dont know for how long the filling had fallen out and didnt catch it in time but if i had caught it in time would a root canal treatment still be necessary or could the molar not be cracked at that point assuming it was caught early on???????????????? can an oral expert please tell me. thank you.
If the tooth is cracked, you need to ensure that the root isn't cracked too! If the root is intact, sadly you have 2 options, I) to have a root canal and a cap available in the NHS or 2) a dental implant which is not!
IF THE FILLING HAD FALLEN OUT AND QUICKLY DETECTED, WOULD THE TOOTH BE CRACKED ANYWAY? RSVP.
Hi bill - I've seen this posted by you in several different threads. I'm assuming you're in the UK?
Regardless of where you are, the bottom line is that any tooth can crack at any time for any number of reasons. You can crack a tooth simply by eating something very hot and immediately drinking something very cold (the drastic, quick change in temperature can crack teeth as easily as it can crack glass). You can crack any tooth simply by biting down just the wrong way on something very hard (candy, ice, or nuts for example). A tooth with an intact filling can crack at any time too, for various reasons (filing was cracked, filling was weak, filling was leaking). Any time any tooth is drilled and filled for any reason, the healthy structure of the natural tooth is compromised. Your tooth had a filling (large, small, doesn't really matter) which means it had already suffered the trauma of driling out decay AND healthy tooth to make room for a filling. You lost your filling at X time and didn't immediately notice it and/or didn't seek immediate treatment for the lost filling. The tooth has since been diagnosed with a crack, and and your dentist now recommend Root Canal treatment. (This is my understanding of your concern...advise if I'm wrong).
Why is he/she recommending this treatment? Ask the dentist. It could be the crack extends into or close to the root and trying to perform crown or fill prep would irritate the pulp so much that he/she believes it would die from the trauma of the procedure. Perhaps you already have exposed root and need RCT to save the tooth.
If you're not satisfied with the reasoning your dentist advised you to have RCT, seek a second (or third) opinion.
Your tooth could have cracked at any time for any reason - the same as any of the rest of your teeth. Could you have avoided RCT if you'd sought immediate treatment for the filling falling out? You'll never know. Maybe, or maybe not.. You could have had that missing filling re-filled the same day you lost the original filing and still have had ended up with a crack. You may have cracked the tooth while you still had the original filling for all you know. The bottom line now is that your dentist is recommending RCT due to your tooth being cracked -- if you're uncomfortable with that recommendation, seek a second opinion. I'd recommend consulting an Endodontist for a second or third opinion.
For what it's worth, I highly recommend having any RCT performed by a respected Endodontist (especially for a complicated molar tooth). Endo-s have specialized equipment to see into the canals and perform the procedure all day -- they're very experienced and have more training than general dentists do when it comes to RCT and other treatments.
*I am not a dental or medical professional. For professional advice, always refer to your own Dentist or Dental professional.