Post and Core without root canal

[silentg]

All,

I finally gathered up the courage to start my dental work last year after avoiding the dentist out of fear for YEARS. I had a bad habit of chewing ice and ended up cracking molars on my left side. I need crowns, but maxed out, so the dentist just did a post and core on my molars (4, two top, two bottom). While searching for how long I could wait before getting crowns, I found something that said a post and core was only done on root canaled teeth. None of my molars with the post and core have been root canaled, but one top and one bottom do have some sensitivity to cold.

Im freaked out... should the dentist have done a post and core without a root cacanal on those teeth?!?

 

[comfortdentist]

Maybe you misunderstood. You can't do a post on a vital tooth. Must have rct first as the post goes into the canal.

 

[silentg]

Maybe... all I know is that was what it was called on my bill and he put some sort of little metal rod in my tooth... ?

 

[drm]

Yep, definitely can't do a post and core without a root canal. My guess is that he did something known as a "core build up" using pins to anchor it on the tooth. The pin/s go into the solid tooth structure and not the canal space. This can buy you some time until you're ready to complete the crowns. If this is what he did, I wouldn't be too surprised if you're having some sensitivity. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong at this point, just that the core builds were large and the nerve is a bit irritated.

 

[silentg]

Thank you both for the response! That helps calm my fears a bit!