What can be done for loose portion of an exposed capped tooth?

Question

Hi doctor,

I had a root canal and post cap done about 15 years back and the cap fell off about 14 years back leaving the original tooth exposed. Well a portion of the original exposed tooth became loose this morning and I am wondering if I can pull this piece out without any nerve pain or possibly getting some infection. Besides it being annoying am not in any pain.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read through your complaint and the relevant details. The loosened portion of the tooth should be the filling done in the tooth after the root canals are filled.This is called the core material. Because the tooth is exposed for a quite long period of time, there is microleakage in the filling which made it loose now. Please do not attempt to remove it because you might end up leaving a big hole in the tooth. This will further clog the food particles that you munch. There will not be 100 % pain since the tooth is root canal treated (equivalent to dead tooth). But leaving the tooth unprotected will lead to damage of the tooth further and the root canal treatment would fail. I request you to visit your dentist and get the tooth refilled and if financial conditions suit you go for the cap fabrication once again. This will help you save your tooth for another decade. The cap fabricating materials have improvised nowadays that they can be really strong to protect the underlying tooth structure. Example: Zirconia crowns.