X-Ray of My Possible Failed 10 Year Old Root Canal

[michisafraid]

Hi everyone, My dentist gave me an x-ray of the 10 year old root canal tooth (#14). This is the tooth and this x-ray is from the other day. My x-rays from 2009 and from the other day are exactly the same...showing a little radiolucency. I grind my teeth and get pain all over, everyday I have pain in one or more areas...sometimes the jaw, sometimes a tooth or teeth. Well I had mentioned to my dentist I was having pain in that area but I could not pin point a tooth - so because of the radiolucency he said it might not be a bad idea to see an endodontist. I saw her. She said she could retreat the tooth if I wanted. I opted for an extraction. She told me not to rush into anything for fear of abscess. I do not want to abscess so I already scheduled my extraction. I have no pain. I only did a few times and I don't even know which tooth up there but it hasn't been back in almost two weeks. Am I doing the right thing getting it extracted based on this x-ray? I won't retreat with another root canal. Could the radiolucency be perhaps scar tissue from the original abscess I had 10 years ago when I had the root canal? Does it look bad to you? Thank you so much.

 

[dental_blogger]

I would listen to the Endodontist and not rush into having the tooth extracted or the root canal treatment redone at this point for fear of an abcess. It's premature.

You said it yourself that you haven't experienced any symptoms in the last 2 weeks and you're not even sure which tooth it was that you were feeling pain. It was just in a general area.

Wait until the symptoms localize to one tooth, the symptoms change or become worse or more frequent. Visit your dentist every 6 months for your regular check-up. The hygienist or dentist can compare your x-rays and keep an eye on that tooth.