Dr.
I have a tooth that has been bothering me for weeks - my regular dentist filled a crack and cannot find anything else wrong, x rays, and oral exam showed nothing. She is now recommending a root canal. Can this be done over an existing crown, or will they have to start over? I dread this, as I have taken good care of my teeth over the years, and this is really bothering me.
Thanks.

Dear Suzan,

I am not a dentist but feel I could be close after all the work I've had done. You probably know the answer to most of your questions but yes...they can go through the crown and will. It's simply to drill an entry hole through the top of the tooth/crown so the Endodontist can clean out the infection and inject antibiotics to kill what's left. He will fill it temporally and you will come back in a few days to finish the procedure. Why? So the antibiotics can have a few days to kill all of the infection. If the tooth is cracked...it's really a call for the doctor, the expert, to decide to do the root canal or have the tooth pulled and proceed with and implant or a bridge. I had this situation and because there was so much bone loss due to procrastination and infection...I had the tooth pulled and had to have a bone graft and then an implant which is still seating into the new bone before the new crown goes on. They use titanium for the implant post. Reason? Bone tends to adhere to Titanium. It's somewhat organic so I was told by my Periodontist. Here’s the part I want to share with everyone I can. Because I did not go get my root canal in time…over the course of a year I had this terrible bone loss due to the infection. To fix it properly cost me an extra 3,500.00. If I had the root canal in time I might have gotten away with a $1,500.00 procedure. Instead, with the bone graft and the implant it cost near 5 grand and I still need an $1,800.00 crown. The crown procedure costs more with an implant!!! Brush well…floss and use a small brush in between your teeth and use antiseptic mouth wash. I do this now three times a day and have my teeth cleaned every 4 months. It is preventing gum dieses that was well on its way. I can’t begin to tell what kind of money I’d been into without understanding and catching this situation. Good luck.

DR

I am looking for an Endodontist f/t or p/t.
Current endodontist is moving out of state, he made over a million dollars for himself in 2008.
Please email me if you know of anybody who would be interested in this unique opportunity. Thank you

Is this root canal painful?

-heather-