Post Temp Crown and Tooth Survival - Petrified of Root Canal

[toothprobs]

Sorry, my browser crashed so there are two entries about this.

Should I get a root canal on through my temporary crown?

I was seeing a dentist who told me I should get veneers to protect a fragile front tooth that had a root canal when I was 17 (I'm not 30). I told her I didn't want a crown, and she said veneers would work but I should do both teeth. After she did the treatment, I realized she did not veneer me but crowned both my teeth and did a horrible job at that.

A restorative dentist is helping me. He took those off and has me in temporary crowns while I undergo ortho to fix the regress that occurred while my former dentist told me not to wear my Invisalign trays (she said I didn't need to during the month of temporary crowns and my teeth moved).

My front tooth that is alive had no pain to begin with became very sore about 2 weeks into the temporaries from my restorative dentist. I went to see him, and he said dentist 1 had overprepped my teeth, my pulp was showing and that I needed to see an endo. The endo suggested a root canal, but on the day of the appointment I cried and couldn't do it because the pain had died down.

Now, we've been watching the tooth. I have about 4 weeks of ortho until my permanent crowns are put on. The endo says he would wait if it were him, but today it started to hurt slightly when I pressed on it. Should I wait it out or go ahead and get the root canal? I'm petrified and think maybe it's a fit thing or something because right after the restorative dentist prepped me, I asked if I'd need a root canal and he said no, but later said yes because he saw my pulp. Please help! I don't want two dead teeth and a risk of implants by age 35.

 

[toothprobs]

Crown Issues - Petrified and Need Advice PLEASE!

Sorry everyone for the duplicates. Gosh, I didn't realize it posted!

Should I get a root canal on through my temporary crown?

I was seeing a dentist who told me I should get veneers to protect a fragile front tooth that had a root canal when I was 17 (I'm not 30). I told her I didn't want a crown, and she said veneers would work but I should do both teeth. After she did the treatment, I realized she did not veneer me but crowned both my teeth and did a horrible job at that.

A restorative dentist is helping me. He took those off and has me in temporary crowns while I undergo ortho to fix the regress that occurred while my former dentist told me not to wear my Invisalign trays (she said I didn't need to during the month of temporary crowns and my teeth moved).

My front tooth that is alive had no pain to begin with became very sore about 2 weeks into the temporaries from my restorative dentist. I went to see him, and he said dentist 1 had overprepped my teeth, my pulp was showing and that I needed to see an endo. The endo suggested a root canal, but on the day of the appointment I cried and couldn't do it because the pain had died down.

Now, we've been watching the tooth. I have about 4 weeks of ortho until my permanent crowns are put on. The endo says he would wait if it were him, but today it started to hurt slightly when I pressed on it. Should I wait it out or go ahead and get the root canal? I'm petrified and think maybe it's a fit thing or something because right after the restorative dentist prepped me, I asked if I'd need a root canal and he said no, but later said yes because he saw my pulp. Please help! I don't want two dead teeth and a risk of implants by age 35.

 

[Gordon]

I assume that the endodontist did a pulp test? If so and it was negative, then NOT taking action now is far more likely to result in extraction and implants than doing the endo now. Honest to goodness, endo on a front tooth that's already got a dead nerve is about the easiest procedure known to man, half the time you don't even need local anaesthesia.
If there's any doubt about the health of the tooth, get the endo done before the permanent crown goes on there and you have to wreck the permanent crown to do the endo later...

I reckon if you can sit through 2 crown preps twice then you could do an endo standing on your head!

 

[toothprobs]

Thanks Gordon. Do you mean if I got a pulp test and the results were negative like it's still alive? It's still alive, now 5 months after the second set of temps were put on. But it kind of hurts when I push on it. My endo gave me the last stat of survival of 70% I won't need it, and 30% I will need the root canal, but that was before this recent mild discomfort.

With that in mind, just to clarify, you think I should go ahead? What are the risks of implant and extraction later? Thanks!

 

[Gordon]

No, negative means that the nerve is dead. If there's pain on pressure/biting then it's usually a sign that the nerve is in trouble.

It's generally much easier (and therefore more likely to be successful) to do the endo as early on as possible, waiting to do it just tends to make things more complicated. The dying nerve can put up a bit of a fight for life, blocking out the nerve canal passage and making the endo treatment very difficult.

It's also worth checking that the temp crowns are well sealed and fully integrated with your bite, since a slight discrepancy in your bite MAY be causing some of your symptoms.

 

[toothprobs]

I've been having a hunch that it may be the crown fit. Since it's the front two teeth, the dentist connected them rather than putting on two temporaries since I have to do orthodontics. I think this all started when I ate a bite of a burrito and the beef steak was a tough pull (about three weeks after the temporaries were put on). I don't know what to do!!!