With proper care, a tooth that has been treated with a root canal can last a lifetime. However, while this treatment is more than 95% successful, there is a remote chance that your dentist may recommend that you have yours redone. If you feel pain or discomfort in a previously treated tooth, it is possible that an additional procedure could aid healing and save the tooth. Endodontic retreatment is the most common option for failed root canals and involves removing the original filling and disinfecting the channel.
The goal is to save the natural tooth, as with any other root canal. Advances in technology are constantly changing the way root canal treatment is performed, so your endodontist can use new techniques that weren't available when your first procedure was performed. To help the root canal last, it is beneficial to place the crown immediately after the endodontic procedure. When an endodontic treatment fails, the first thing to do is try to redo the root canal treatment.
It's usually done by an experienced endodontist (endodontic specialist) or general dentist. After removing the filling from the canal, the endodontist can clean them and carefully examine the inside of the tooth with augmentation and illumination, looking for any additional channels or unusual anatomy that requires treatment. The most common sign of a faulty root canal is pain, which may appear only when eating or biting, or persistent pain that doesn't go away. Some patients worry that if the endodontic treatment they had years ago wasn't successful, the same thing is likely to happen again.
In some cases, patients have problems with endodontics and there is a chance that a root canal might fail. The endodontist removes the pulp from the infected tooth, disinfects it and reseals it during an endodontic treatment. The procedure is likely to be more complex than the first endodontic treatment, since restorative and filling material may need to be removed to perform the new procedure. Root canals are performed to help protect a tooth and prevent serious health problems from developing in the future.
With proper care, even teeth that have undergone endodontic treatment can last a lifetime. However, sometimes, a tooth that has been treated doesn't heal properly and can become painful or sick months or even years after treatment. If your tooth hasn't healed or has new problems, you have a second chance. Rick Davis and Rick Schwartz spend nearly half their time retiring from failed endodontic treatments performed by others.
A successful endodontic treatment saves the natural tooth and extends its life to match other healthy teeth. When a root canal is not successful, symptoms may return a few months to a few years later. It is important to talk to an endodontist about the possibility of re-treating it if you feel pain or discomfort in a previously treated tooth. Subsequent root canal treatments do not always make sense but retreatment has the highest success rate.
