Root Canal Retreatment or Pull the tooth?

[smitbret]

There are few greater joys in this world than a properly performed root canal. Immediate pain relief. I have 2 teeth in my mouth that have had root canals. 1 was 8-10 years ago and the other about 4 years ago. Both done by my dentist. I wouldn't hesitate to do another if I needed it.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I lost a tooth when I could not afford a root canal during my long unemployment w/no dental insurance.

It was the last tooth by the right rear molar. I actually like having the empty space there now so I can lick my gum.

Things will get better.

 

[tonyalmeida89]

Just got the endodontist's opinion...way to go complicating things for me even further...


1. doesn't know what the problem is


2. if it's a 'good' tooth, he is confident he can save for it 'years', provided I keep caring for my teeth – didn't want to be any more specific than 'years'


3. if it's a 'bad' tooth, it's chances are much less slim, but can still save it


4. In order to determine if it's a 'good' or 'bad' tooth, he needs to drill into the crown (without removing the crown yet) and clean what he can. If the abscess/pimple disappears, it's a good tooth...if the abscess doesn't disappear it's a bad tooth


5. it's going to cost me $800 just to determine if it's a good or bad tooth


6. if i decide to proceed with the root canal operation, by the time I am done, including sticking a crown on it from my local dentist, it's going to cost me almost $5k


7. compliments me on the rest of my teeth...saying they look good and that if I continue to care for them as I am they should last a lifetime...his recommendation is to try and save the tooth because all my other teeth are so healthy


8. jump forward a step...an extraction & complete implant estimated at $5,500 – $6,000 from my dentist


Endodontic's most specific description of my problem...it is a "PERSISTENT INFECTION' – now that doesn't sound promising. From the endodontic's opinion, on initial examination, there is nothing to suggest any identifiable 'errors' on the first root canal...although he follows this up with, believe it or not, although 'there is no perfect root canal...we only do the best we can at the time we can'..that's great news ain't it


My conclusion is that the root canal is simply too expensive a procedure to try it again (an extra say $500-$1000 for the implant option)



I'm going to extract it and implant in it when safe to do so.


I just hope my bone structure doesn't get stuffed up from the extraction/implant.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd try to get a better figure for years. 2 years, 10 years, 25 years? If it's under 10 years may as well pull and get an implant and get it over with, you'll have to get it done eventually anyway. Or can you get away leaving it out? Is it in a location that will make eating harder?

 

[momeNt]

While I am not a dentist I am fairly qualified in hindsight analysis.

You should have brushed regularly, flossed regularly, stimulated your gums, avoided soft drinks in their entirely. If you smoke that also is really bad.

As you can see there are a lot of things that you needed to do to avoid this situation.

I hope this helps.

 

[Red Squirrel]

While I am not a dentist I am fairly qualified in hindsight analysis.

You should have brushed regularly, flossed regularly, stimulated your gums, avoided excessively soft drinks in their entirely. If you smoke that also is really bad.

As you can see there are a lot of things that you needed to do to avoid this situation.

I hope this helps.

Some people's teeth are better than others. Some people get issues regardless of how well they brush as they age.

Though one of the worse things is probably sugar especially in the forms of pop because it's also combined with acid, which is also bad. Any time you drink a pop immediately drink water or rinse your mouth. I've made this a habit. In fact any drink that is sugary or acidy I try to follow up by drinking water after.

 

[momeNt]

Some people's teeth are better than others. Some people get issues regardless of how well they brush as they age.

Though one of the worse things is probably sugar especially in the forms of pop because it's also combined with acid, which is also bad. Any time you drink a pop immediately drink water or rinse your mouth. I've made this a habit. In fact any drink that is sugary or acidy I try to follow up by drinking water after.

Good point.

If you were going to drink pop, you really should have followed it with water!

 

[postmortemIA]

I hear so many horror stories about root canals. Dentists love them because they get to keep billing you when they have to keep fixing them and eventually pull it anyway. Root canals also have no blood flow anymore and bacteria live and thrive and hide in safety in the dentin tubes. Which can wreak havoc on your health. Since antibiotics can't get in there since there is no blood flow. And it's still just a dead piece of your body in you. Which is never good. Seriously just pull it, in the long run it will probably be cheaper and definitely safer and less hassle. They don't last forever anyway, eventually it will have to be removed and fixed either way.

I have multiple (not 2; more than that) root canals. Each one was a success. One of them worked without crown for almost 2 decades, because person doing it was an expert. And I have had 0 problems with these 'dead teeth'.
His mileage may vary ... but it can be well worth it.

 

[Elixer]

For what it is worth, an endo charges around $2300-$2500 for a molar for a re-treat.
Add on to that a new crown. That brings it up to around $2950-$3300.
There are no guarantees, and there are no refunds.

To get an extraction + 'filler' (aka dead people's ground up bone), that is around $450, and takes a few weeks to heal.
What they don't tell you is that the extraction CAN affect other teeth. They say it is rare, but, dunno how true that is.
If you want a implant, then, total cost is around $3500-$4000 and lots and lots of time.
Guess what, no guarantees it will work. but, at least they give you a 30% refund if it fails. (Yeah, how nice of them!)
Implants do NOT last as long as you would think. Don't know why they don't make them out of metal for things like back teeth, perhaps they think they will wear out your natural teeth, then again, they just want you to keep coming back.

Either way, it sucks.

 

[tonyalmeida89]

While I am not a dentist I am fairly qualified in hindsight analysis.

You should have brushed regularly, flossed regularly, stimulated your gums, avoided soft drinks in their entirely. If you smoke that also is really bad.

As you can see there are a lot of things that you needed to do to avoid this situation.

I hope this helps.

For your information, I have been brushing twice a day and flossing every night ever since I can remember with OCD (literally not missing a single day). I don't smoke and my diet is good. Like the dentist said, all of my other teeth are in very good health and he expects that if I keep up my cleaning & check ups that the rest of my teeth will last a lifetime.

I got unlucky on this tooth. I would love to keep this tooth, believe me. However, the root canal is costing almost as much as the implant and the implant, although with its risks, has a much better success rate than a retreated canal. I haven't got the money to have 2 shots. As much as it pains me to extract the tooth, I need to also think financially, and I think that the extraction & implant option is going to save me the most money and least hassle in the long term.

Is it possible that the endodontist saves my tooth and I don't have problems for a decade or longer...yes. Unfortunately, for myself, I am not willing to take that risk because the potential financial loss is too great.

Thank you all for all your informative responses and help.

 

[sze5003]

If you don't have insurance then either option is expensive. It doesn't sound like the endodontist was very experienced. Mine was very confident in the success of the procedure granted I had an infection too.

If you have an abscess, it needs to be cut and drained during the root canal to prevent bacteria from growing in that area.

One thing my dentist did tell me is that the implant takes 4-6 weeks to heal then you have to have the post placed in, then wait another 2-3 weeks or more , then have the implant top part placed.

He also mentioned my teeth will shift while I wait for the implant and this could leave gaps in my mouth or possibly the jaw can collapse if the bone is not strong enough. That scared me enough to just go through with the root canal.

 

[edro]

I should floss more.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I should floss more.

Just eat ice. Lots of cold chewy, delicious ice. When I had my last cleaning they were amazed at how clean my teeth were and it had been two years since the last one!

 

[shortylickens]

I went to a new dentist who's a lot better.
She suggested an endodontist for my next root canal. And gave me a referral.