Unfinished root canal... scared!

[SilverGal76]

Hello all!

Is it weird that it's even scary to POST in a 'dentist' forum? *Shudder*.

2 years ago when I was 18 I had three root canals. All three were unfinished; the dentist put that putty-like fililng in the holes and I was supposed to come back for the crowns. Well, I ended up being kicked off my parent's insurance since I was not in college full time, and never went back. Since that time one of the putty-like fillings fell out of one of the unfinished root canals. Along with the gaping hole, half of the tooth broke off to the gum line, so I only have the outer side of that tooth left, besides the root.

That was about a year and a half ago, and I finally have insurance through my husband who is in the Air Force, with United Concordia. I'm in so much pain what with my wisdom teeth growing in sideways, an absessed tooth next to the broken tooth, I'm forced to make a dentist appointment. I probably wouldn't be if it weren't for the fact that the whole side of my face with the problem teeth is in absolute pain... headache, ear ache, jaw ache, even my eye socket on that side hurts!

I'm just scared what he's going to tell me about the broken tooth. Any advice, or insight would be so helpful!

Rachel

 

[Gordon]

Worst case scenario: the root canal will need to be redone because of secondary infection that's crept in when the tooth was unsealed in your mouth. If the fracture has gone down below the line of the gingival margin then extraction will pretty much be necessary. If the fracture isn't too deep then the tooth could still be built up and crowned.

 

[caries]

the same thing happened to one of my molars i had a root canal done on it and was supposed to go back for another visit so they could put the crown on but i never went back cause i couldnt afford the crown. bad idea . the putty white temporary filling thingy eventually dissolved. It tasted kinda mintyish but any ways 5 years went by and what was left of my tooth just deterioated and parts fell out untill there was just like little bits of teeth sticking out my gum. well then those bits of tooth fell out untill i just had the rubber root canal filler sticking out my gum up to this point my tooth had been filling up with puss and i would just drain out the ooze when ever it filled up daily and it would bleed a little. well the rubber things in my gums, you know the gutta-percha they put in my root hole it really was bothering the heck out of me so i pulled one of um out of the gum. I wouldn't recommend it because your not supposed to even have those exposed to saliva in the first place. Then i went to the dentist and he did a examination and he said that the tooth needed to be extracted. so it just really depends what is left of your teeth and whether or not there is enough left to work with but it is a high chance you will need them extracted