Is it necessary to get a root canal in an infected tooth?

Question

Hello doctor,

A back molar was sore when I chewed on it and my dentist found an infection under it, so he did a root canal but afterward, it was still sore. He sent me to a root canal specialist who found that the tooth is cracked and needs to be removed. Given that the infection was under the tooth in the bone, was it appropriate to do a root canal before checking whether it would solve the problem?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Your chief complaint in itself suggests tooth was infected so there were two treatment modalities: RCT (root canal treatment) or extraction. As the doctor has done RCT and problem has not solved, it can be due to accessory root canals difficult to negotiate or perforation due to faulty RCT procedure.

The endodontist after examination arrived at the conclusion of a cracked tooth. So, he advised extraction. As for your question is concerned the doctor has tried best at first instance to save the tooth and it is a routine which dentists do. But based on the complexity he was not able to solve it. Under such cases we dentists extract tooth particularly in case of third molars which has much complicated anatomy.