Root Canal Years Ago

[Liz1989]

Hi, I had an absess a few years ago which caused a swelling in the gum above the teeth. This was drained and no problems after that (after having a root canal) however years on from that im starting to get a weird feeling with that tooth. If I tap it lots of times and wobble it that seems to sooth whatever it is wrong. Im not getting actual pain from it but more of an itch or niggle. I keep asking my dentist if im supposed to have it crowned as its been years to which they say yes but there doesn't seem to be any urgency about it. Could this mean the root canal is failing after all these years?

 

[drm]

Could be failing but it's almost impossible to tell without an x-ray. The reason for the crown is that when a tooth with a root canal breaks, it is much more likely to break catastrophically (as in can't be saved and must be extracted). These teeth also break at a much higher rate than teeth without root canals. A crown helps keep this from happening so that you can keep that tooth long term.