Endodontic Retreatment
With the appropriate care, teeth that have had endodontic treatment will last as long as other natural teeth. Yet, a tooth that has received root canal treatment may fail to heal or pain may continue to exist. Sometimes, the pain may occur months or years after treatment. If so, endodontic retreatment may be needed.
Improper healing may be caused by:
- Curved or narrow canals that were not treated during the initial treatment.
- Complicated canals went undetected during the initial treatment.
- The crown or restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following the procedure.
- The crown or permanent restoration did not prevent saliva from contaminating the inside of the tooth.
- Internal crown or root fractures may not be apparent at the time of treatment.
- Despite the best possible root canal therapy, existing infection or cyst continue to develop. This will prevent healing of the bone.
In some cases, new problems can influence a tooth that was successfully treated:
- New decay can expose a root canal filling material, causing infection.
- A cracked or loose filling or crown can expose the tooth to new infection.
Once retreatment has been selected as a solution to your problem, the dentist will reopen your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material. The restorative material will be removed to enable access to the root canal. The dentist will now clean the canals and carefully examine the inside of the problematic tooth. The microscope will be used to search for additional canals, fractures or the other causes for failure. Once cleaned, the dentist will seal the canals and place a temporary filling in the tooth.
At this point, you will need to return to your dentist as soon as possible in order to have a new crown or restoration placed on the tooth to restore full functionality.
